


Dogma

by johnegbertkin



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Conspiracy, Cults, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Fetishization, God Complex, Grooming, Hollywood, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, M/M, Movie Director Dave Strider, Physical Abuse, Racism, Torture, slow to start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:40:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 61,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24983992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnegbertkin/pseuds/johnegbertkin
Summary: ** indefinite hiatus **Dave Strider is a famous movie director living in Los Angeles, California, with his son, Dirk Strider, when a high school friend gets him caught up in a cult he had no connections to. A group of vigilantes work with Dave to save his friend, his son, and company.Also known as, Dave strider has a week to stop a murder with a group of people he’s never met.*Porn starts Chapter 5
Relationships: Gamzee Makara & Karkat Vantas, John Egbert/Dave Strider, John Egbert/Grand Highblood, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, Sollux Captor/Aradia Megido
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29





	1. Rich people who party

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry the description is weak, but thank you for clicking on the fic and considering giving it a read! It’s going to start a little slow but If i keep the chapters on the long side we can get into the good stuff soon ;) Hopefully you’ll stick around until then! 
> 
> To clear up some confusion for later things in the chapter: The Grand Highblood is called Kurloz, and he named his son after himself. The GHB will not be called that name until later in the fic, so I will try to be very specific about which Kurloz is being spoken about in any given moment. Any tips on how to make it less confusing would be very much appreciated!
> 
> This fic is gonna work a little differently then my others, because this is gonna tackle a lot of serious and unsettling topics. Every chapter with possibly triggering content will be tagged at the beginning, instead of in the fic description, so you know when to expect the trigger specifically. This story will deal with topics of heavy drug abuse, rape, grooming, pedophilia, and murder. None of these things will be a product of Dirk and Dave’s relationship and this fic will not deal with incest. 
> 
> If you still want to read the story, but can’t read the intense scenes, each chapter with possibly triggering content will have a place to skip to so you don’t have to read it. The end note will have a vague description of the events you missed in the occasion that you skipped it, completely trigger free/as trigger free as possible.

Dave never stayed in one school long, and often he was the subject of bullying. He heard lots of teasing remarks: kids finding it strange that he was adopted, insisting that he was some sort of illegal immigrant, often asked why he couldn’t go to school in his “home country”, and even that he must have a pussy or something, because of the awkward way his gym shorts fit him. 

All of which were incorrect. Dave was born in America, he certainly didn’t have a pussy, and he wasn’t adopted. He never stayed with his foster families long, none of them even considered adoption. His brother, who overdosed, had no family in the states for Dave to end up with. He was an American citizen, so he would be treated like an American orphan. 

You’d think growing up with rich, white, families was probably the luckiest break a boy his age could get. He wasn’t short a sports team to be signed up for, a nice bed to sleep in, or a popular group of friends to invite over for extravagant parties. He never met any of those marks however, the few friends he kept saying he was funny, but strange and unapproachable. As is the horrible foster care system, he barely had any new clothes or any clothes at all, wearing the same three things to school almost everyday. Dave wasn’t big and strong like the other boys his age, short and effeminate for a teenager. He shades his eyes and carries around a large backpack covered in pins and patches, and he would be an easy target to bully if anyone noticed him at all as he got to highschool. 

He never stuck around long, though, constantly thrown around in the foster care system like a rag doll almost every year. Dave started with a sister, long before he could remember, but they were separated. The more he moved, the less stuff he brought with him, and soon he just stopped unpacking his bag. The only thing he ever kept from the homes was a hand-me-down camera one of his foster dads gave him to try and create a bond. They had him rehomed a week later after him and their birth son got into a fist fight, but it mattered to him nonetheless. 

That beat up camera got him far, making “movies” with his friends and burning them on cd’s, selling them to people at school, and saving up to buy nicer cameras. He rarely was actually somewhere long enough to be around for birthdays or christmas, never having the nerve to ask the families to buy him filming equipment even if he wanted to. Dave bought it all himself, filming everything, taking photos of everything. The makeshift, deconstructable, darkroom he set up in his new closets processed many photos of roadkill and bones he found on his walks, many jars of preserved rat heads being thrown away inside a walmart plastic sack while the people he lived with screamed at him. 

Although heavily discouraged, his love for the dark and macabre got him places. From winning an award at a small indie movie festival for his b-rate garage made horror movie, producing a straight to dvd special fresh out of film school, to seeing his name printed on posters in theatres selling out tickets. A male movie director was nothing subversive, but his unsettling approach to horror was. Movies with no music and uncomfortable visuals, winning “most pukeable” on Rotten Tomatoes while still maintaining a 94% audience score. He was added to a Buzzfeed article of “Top 20 Directors more recognizable then their films” and made fun of in a South Park episode. He had never seen so much money, or so many wedding invitations with his name written on them, in his life. It was everything a poor, homeless, hispanic kid from Houston could ever dream of. Dave was popular, people recognized him, people even called to him by name...

And, he never had been invited to so many parties. 

Dave passed between his bedroom and his bathroom over and over, assessing the shirts and pants he was trying on until he found the one he was sticking with. The red Hawaiian adjacent shirt was corny enough to be fun to wear, and didn’t make him look horribly unfashionable. It was the kind of tacky that was in style right now. The shirt was halfway unbuttoned, anyone able to see just half of his chest tattoo poking out from behind the fabric, tucked into his torn-to-shreds black jeans, and held up with that Cartier Crocodile leather belt that nearly killed him financially when he first bought it. His nail polish was chipping but he had no desire to repaint them, his knuckle tattoos really playing into the grunge theme his hands were going for. 

Pushing his tongue against the back of his teeth, he realized he should probably brush them again. 

The penthouse was full of noise tonight, the title screen of House of a Thousand Corpses looped over and over again every 15 seconds, the same scream and chainsaw sound effect playing on repeat while the preteens in the kitchen were too busy fucking around to press play. The slamming of cupboard doors and the incessant beeping of the microwave being ignored, matched by the running water and electric buzzing of Dave’s toothbrush in the bathroom. 

Dave opened the bathroom cabinet as he spit toothpaste against the bowl of the sink, running his toothbrush under the water, and plugging it back into its charger that sat neatly on the counter. He drenched himself in cologne, pulling down Dirks Mon-Sunday medicine box and putting it on the sink so he remembers to take it. Dave looked at himself one last time before determining he couldn’t do anything else to himself to fix what was already broken. He did wish he had time to shave though…

The loud buzzing of his phone against the bathroom counter was amplified by his noisy surroundings, Dave turning it over to see Vriska was facetiming him, her icon picture of her holding only 3 of her pet spiders gave him the heebie-jeebies. He slid to answer, adjusting the camera so he wasn’t at such an awkward angle. “Hey-“ 

“Where the fuck are you?” she yelled, slouched back in the front seat of her car. Vriska only showed the top of her head, her sunglasses pushing up her blue bangs. She was wearing those stupid glasses with the one tinted lense and one clear lense; but Dave couldn’t judge her too throughly because he had been wearing the same style of aviators since he was 13. 

“Damn, are you here?” Dave closed the bathroom cabinet and flicked the light off. 

“I’ve only been blowing up your phone for the past 2 minutes” she pulled the camera closer to her face, pulling down her bottom eyelid and giving him that sweet close up “I’m in the car park.” 

Dave left the bathroom, walking into the wide open apartment, chaos central, as his home always was when Dirk had Jake over. Dirk was sitting on the counter, like he wasn’t supposed to do, and Jake was rummaging through the candy cabinet to presumably stock up on snacks. Jake was a tall kid, and it was crazy that their heads were still at the same height regardless that Dirk was elevated. 

Jake was a polynesian boy , and he was already a big kid, with such a dominating personality. Dirk fed right into it, and the dynamic worked pretty well. He was Dirk's only friend, after all, so he must’ve found the only one he needed. 

Dave grabbed his keys off the kitchen table, picking up his wallet in the same motion, and Dirk looked back at him. Sliding off the granite, he walked over to him. 

“Are you leaving?” 

“Yeah i’m going right now” Dave reached and pushed up the shades that were sliding down his nose, Dirk had begged him to buy him those damn things, apparently modeled after some anime. “You both behave yourselves, don’t get into too much trouble, and don’t scare yourself shitless i’m not gonna be home till later tonight-“ 

“HURRY UP” Vriska shouted from the muffled confines of his hand, Dave turning her up so he could see her. 

“Is that Vriska?” Dirk asked, taking the phone from Dave as he slid his shoes on over his heels “Hey Vriska!” he waved. 

“Hey baby genius, where's your dad?” Vriska’s tone immediately changed, pulling back the camera so Dave could see her entire face. 

“Being dumb” he joked, Jake walking up behind him and waving “That’s Jake, he’s dumb too.” 

“You are too smart for this stupid world, Blondie” Vriska teased, Dave taking the phone from Dirk and turning it back to face him... 

“I’m coming down now” he assured her, Vriska sticking out her tongue as he hung up. Dave backed up towards the elevator, clicking the button while still facing Dirk “do not, and I repeat, Do Not buzz up anyone. I have a key and I won’t ever ask you to let me up okay? That goes for both of you. Don’t burn down my apartment, don’t piss on my blankets, Dirk take your medicine before 10:30 and do not use sprite to wash them down again-“ 

“I knoooow,” Dirk groaned. He was still short enough that Dave could kiss the top of his head, messing it up as Dirk swatted at him. 

“Okay, I love you, be good, clean up after yourselves-“ 

Dirk made the blah blah blah hand at him, turning and walking back to the kitchen to help Jake mix M&M’s into the popcorn. Dave rolled his eyes and pressed the ground floor, Dirk leaning back and waving goodbye. 

The doors opened as he passed the other apartments, thankfully not having to stop for anyone, greeting the receptionist at the front desk. She knew them by name and was too patient with Dirk's smart ass, having worked here nearly the 9 years he and Dirk lived there. He b-lined for the car park, Vriska’s Cadillac being the only car running i’m the complex. He read once in an article that leaving the car running in a car park was dangerous, but he couldn’t remember. 

Smacking the window, the blonde jumped, rolling her eyes as Dave got into the car. He dropped his keys and wallet into the cup holder, adjusting the seat so his knees weren’t pressed against the glovebox. She had just gotten this car, and the dashboard was already ruined with scuffs from her feet. Low volume trap music was making the car vibrate, Vriska sitting up in her seat. 

“Does it take 15 minutes to take an elevator?” 

“You won’t believe how many times you’ve gotta tell a kid something before they listen” 

“Dirk is a smart little dude, you gotta stop babying him” Vriska put the car in drive, pulling out of her parking spot and watching her sides as she pulled up a song to play next through her bluetooth. 

“He’s 12!” Dave laughed, pulling down the sun visor and looking at himself in the mirror. 

“Okay, and where were our parents at 12?”

“...Fair” 

Vriska put down her phone and left the car park, turning up the radio so the whole car boomed with rap. Dave rolled down his window, leaning against the door and letting the wind blow around his hair. He had been to a thousand parties before, but no level of experience calmed his anxiety over them. Regardless of the fact that he could hardly go out without being recognized, the idea of being in a room full of people more famous and rich than him put him right back in highschool. 

“I think you're really gonna like this one” Vriska elbowed him to get his attention, only ever driving with one hand “Terezi is crazy rich, like absurdly rich, and she throws killer parties” 

“I don’t know, they aren’t really my scene” 

“This’ll be different, Terezi is certainly something” 

“Is they the one you made the sex tape with?” 

“No, I wish” 

Dave smirked, shaking his head and looking at her as she refocused on driving. She softly mouthed the words to the song and Dave got comfortable again. He has known Vriska for years, way before either of them had the accidents that made them rich. He met Vriska at a troubled teens camp that his extremely religious family at the time sent him to because they were repulsed by his death fixation. They both got into a lot of trouble which drew them together. She was so skinny it was deadly, long and greasy black hair that she combed in front of her eyes. She fashioned herself a goth, but she was definitely a scene queen. Thick, rubber, bracelets lined her arms, her body pierced in every place possible for a 15 year old to pierce, and knee high converse she took 10 minutes to lace every morning. 

She was sent there for her unusual aggression towards others, and it did nothing to change her. Vriska took any chance she could to call out anyone for doing something that she claimed was “annoying” so she could be angry at them for existing. 

Dave was just painfully un-Christian, supposedly. 

They got along great nonetheless, able to bond over a shared love for horror, and Dave’s tolerance for bugs. She was just as used to the foster care system as he was, and being long distance friends wasn’t trouble for them. She had bleach blonde hair now, so fried he was surprised it maintained so much volume. He had met her at 16, and he was going on 32. 

They finally pulled up to the house as the sun set over the city, the orange light making Dave’s olive skin glow. Vriska turned carefully up the driveway, being waved down so she could be instructed where to park. They pulled around the house, the front doors swamped with people, some lounging in the yard. It was the only house Dave had ever seen with an underground pool in the front, people swimming fully clothed, the rim of the pool littered in beer bottles. 

“You are gonna love Terezi, she's a critic and she loves your work” Vriska insisted, Dave calling her bluff and getting out of the car. They walked together up to the doors and pushed their way inside, Vriska’s mean exterior and bad reputation imploring people to simply move out of their way. The music coming from inside of the house was so loud that Dave could hardly hear himself think, especially partnered with everyone’s talking and shouting. Vriska took a fist full of the back of Dave’s shirt so they didn’t get separated in the crowd, tall enough to look atop the head of everyone in the room. She didn’t have to look far because the woman of the hour found them instead. 

“VRRRISKA!” the voice called, the crowd parting like the red sea as she walked through. She was incredibly tiny for the reputation she had on her shoulders, also very thick. The teal jumpsuit she was wearing served great to her curves, every part of her a puke of patterns. Every sleeve has a new patch or bright color. She was also wearing the largest, reddest, pair of sunglasses he had ever seen. She held up a cane with a heavy looking dragon head carved into the top. 

“What’s up, Rezi, killer party!” Vriska smiled down at her, almost having to crane her neck to see her. If Dave didn’t know any better, he’d say Vriska was blushing. 

“I hear it’s getting pretty intense” She smiles wide, and Dave was certain she had some sort of cosmetic surgery to make her teeth that unnaturally sharp. He didn’t look on to the conversation very long before Terezi comically snapped her head to look at him, sniffing like a dog, and sparing no room for comfort. 

She took his hand, rubbing his palm roughly. “You brought someone new! A man?” she quizzed. 

“Um, yup, that’s me-“ 

Terezi reached up and grabbed a fist full of his hair, Dave swatting at her hands and forcing himself away. She giggled, putting both hands on her cane and leaning on it as she looked up at him. 

“You must be Dave! I’ve heard so much about you” She took his hand again, rubbing her finger over each one of his knuckles individually. Dave looked to Vriska for help, but she just smiled, mouthing the words “She's blind” while pointing at her own eyes.

“You smell like warm apple cider, and, ooo, honey roasted peanuts” She stuck out her tongue and pretended to drool, Dave flaring up red, laughing uncomfortably. 

“Oh um, thank you-“ 

“I absolutely adore your films, and the diversity is incredible! How you manage to fit so much racial and dynamic culture into every movie is breathtaking, especially since no one is spared from horrible gruesome death!” She chirped, the ever present smile still on her face “oh and I hear the cinematography is just incredible, just absolutely stunning.” 

“Thank you, thank you so much Terezi that means so much to me-“

“It’s especially impressive that you’ve worked with so many female actors and have 0 rape allegations!” she interrupted, Vriska snorting and covering her mouth. Dave blinked away the shock and tried to think of a response to that but he didn’t really have anything. 

“Well, it’s not that hard when you respect an actor, regardless of gender...I’ve, um, never cared about any of that bullshit.” Dave stumbled 

“That’s why I adore your work!” Terezi cackled evilly, suddenly a look of surprise coming over her face, squeezing Dave’s hand like she was giving birth “Oh my GOD! I know exactly who you need to meet! Yes, yes I’ll be right back, you stay right here with Vriska and I’ll be right back!” 

She pulled away and ducked into the crowd and Dave tried to process the weirdness of that whole conversation. He looked up at Vriska who seemed annoyed, focusing back on Dave with a smile. 

“She’s a weirdo, she doesn’t get the awkwardness of...pointing out that sweet peanut scent you amit” Vriska teased, flicking him. Dave blushed again, smacking her hand away. 

“Where is she going?” Dave asked, that same look of annoyance back on her face.

“She’s off to get this queer social justice warrior she knows, he’s fucking awful” Vriska rolled her eyes, biting her lip as a small blush rose in her cheeks. 

“I probably won’t take your word on that” Dave assured her, the couple migrating naturally to the only open space on her couches. People scooted to make more room for them and Dave rubbed his eyes to calm his overstimulation. 

“We don’t have to sit and wait for her, she’ll probably forget by the time she find him” Vriska scoffed

“This is why you don’t have a girlfriend” Dave teased 

Vriska leaned back and threw her arm over the back of the couch behind him, always having to have such a dominant stance. Dave pulled out his phone to make sure Dirk hadn’t been calling him, peeking over at whatever Vriska was doing to keep himself occupied. He still hadn’t been offered a drink, and if this was a free video game on a kids website, his satisfaction meter would’ve long ran out and he would’ve stormed out of the store. 

It wasn’t long before Terezi had re-emerged from the crowd, someone in toe. Dave sat up to greet them, surprised by his size. He had never seen a man so tall, so lanky, and who smelled so...musky. He had at least 3 feet on her easily, and his face was incredibly young. Almost too young? You could see acne on his chin and he had wispy facial hair like a high schooler. He had gauges the size of mason jar lids and the kinkiest hair Dave had ever seen, almost in dreads, long and at his shoulders. 

“Dave, this is Gamzee!” Terezi cheesed, pulling the tall boy to greet him. He didn’t reach out his hand, but simply nodded, looking between them. 

“Hey Vris, this your boyfriend?” He asked, his voice strange and slow, obviously high. 

“No! Hell no” Vriska laughed, Dave rolling his eyes at the implication. There was no way this kid was sober, because sober people didn’t talk like that. “This is Dave, Dave strider, and you aren’t who Terezi left for.”

Vriska never let anyone catch her or her friends slipping. She introduced Dave like he was the queen of england, no matter who they were talking to. She did seem to have an issue with this kid especially. 

“Oh! Yes, this is not the man I was talking about!” Terezi giggled, reaching out a hand to help Dave to his feet but he declined, helping himself up. “But the man I was talking about, you need to be with Gamzee to see...I guess?” 

Terezi looked up to him as if to make sure she said the right thing, but he simply smiled happily. Vriska’s whole demeanor changed, shoving her hands in her pockets and kicking her foot aimlessly, looking to the floor. This kid obviously made her uncomfortable, and neither Gamzee nor Terezi made any implication that they noticed it. Dave wasn’t traditionally short, but even with Terezi there, he was starting to feel very small. 

“You can follow me” Gamzee prompted, waving over his shoulder and pushing through the crowd, Terezi hardly using her cane as she walked. Dave looked back to Vriska who was still somewhere else. 

They approached probably the heaviest population of people in the entire house, all huddled around a door with fancy velour ropes acting as a barrier, a club style bouncer standing guard. 

“Terezi, Gamzee” he nodded, Terezi waving each one of her fingers individually. He lifted the rope and Gamzee opened the door, the room too dark to see into, the bouncer suddenly darting out his hand to block Dave and Vriska from entering. 

“Hey what the fuck, man?” Vriska protested

“They're with me,” Gamzee said dryly, getting the man to lay off. He moved the rope and let the group travel together again. As Dave entered the room his eyes needed to adjust to the dark lights, dim red lights lining the upper trimming of the walls.

Dave didn't need to spend more than 10 seconds in the room to know exactly what was going on in here. It was dark, and he followed the group, but the energy of this room driped in sex. Just a glance over at the couches he saw a group tripping, a girl being rooted for as she did a line off the table. The group on the opposite side had a couple tongue fucking, Dave looking away in embarrassment. Everyone was half naked and a lot of people were pressed in the corner with no telling what was hiding in the shadows, Dave was one minute more from getting a free X-rated film. He could smell everyone, the extremely intimate smell of sex present for anyone to enjoy. All sorts of strobe lights flashed everywhere, based out music rumbling the floor, barely able to hear himself think. 

Vriska stuck out her tongue to express disgust, pulling down her sunglasses over her eyes. Dave was led up a few steps and Gamzee pulled back quite the setup of curtains, stepping into the only area of the room with light. The pitch black atmosphere was broken as they all entered the fort, Dave having to blink rapidly to adjust his eyes for the second time. His shades helped. 

There was an L shaped sofa, covered in people, a table littered in cans and bottles, wraps, ashtrays, and pipes. A few people sat on the floor, and one was digging through a cooler pushed up against the side of the couch. The stench of weed was impossible to ignore like a public bus stop bathroom, Dave already deciding he was gonna spend as little time as possible in this room. 

Gamzee walked straight to the couch, looking down at the man in the center, both his arms thrown over the back. Dave was almost surprised at the size of this man, so large in a body mass sort of way, arms thick and heavily tattooed. He thought Gamzee was large, but this man was inhuman. His hair was that same kinky texture that Gamzee had, but he had so much more of it, all the way down to his chest, the heaviest gold chain around his neck that Dave had ever seen. He sat manspread and Dave knew he could crush a human skull with his thighs, a fat blunt between his fingers like a cigarette. Dave realized they had locked eyes, and the man cocked his head, ashing the blunt over the back of the couch before he took a hit. Looking at the man made it impossible to not look at the man leaning against his chest. At Least he was, the black haired man was now sitting up and talking to Terezi, a beer in his hand. The bigger man looked at the smaller one as he stood, stumbling slightly and laughing loud enough that Dave could hear it…

And recognize it? 

The man followed Terezi from the couch to meet Vriska and Dave, laughing and having a conversation with her the entire walk. They seemed to be good friends. 

“Dave, this is the man I wanted you to meet! This is John Egbert!” Terezi spread her hands out to present him, laughing maniacally. 

Dave’s face dropped as he finally got a good look at John, his glasses slipping down his nose. John had the same look on his face, holding his beer up and his mouth hanging open in a smile. 

“Dave? Dave Strider?” John laughed, clumsily pushing his bottle into Terezis hands. He was wearing a baby blue button up shirt, clearly disheveled from how it must’ve originally looked, the top few buttons open. He was as tall as Dave, able to look him in the eyes, and Dave felt that twang of insecurity he often tried to ignore. His black hair was wild, square glasses fitting perfectly on his soft face, those big teeth ever so present in Dave’s mind. He had become so pretty. 

“Yes, the famous movie director!” Terezi chirped 

“No, well yes, but no! We went to highschool together” John filled her in, and Dave’s cheeks were rosy as he watched him move. His mannerisms were all his own, still so unique in the way he spoke, delivering every line he said like he was in front of a crowd. He was a little drunk, but his personality and composure was still ever present. 

“I can’t believe it, it’s been so long” Dave couldn’t hide his excitement, but he tried to keep that cool demeanor he worked so hard to maintain. John was much better at upholding his persona. 

“Like, so long” John giggled, Dave’s smirk wavering “We are old as fuck now!” 

John hadn’t aged a day, his face still glowing with youth. That familiar scent was so nostalgic, the way he smelled like how nerds tasted, like ice cream cake, like a birthday party. Dave had only gone to school with John for two years, Sophomore year and half of Junior year before he had to transfer, but John had made quite the impression on him. He was the kid in your class that everyone laughed at, his setup was flawless, and even the teachers he was interrupting would smirk. John was always good at comebacks, no matter how cruel what someone had said, he always had a joke to fire back. That’s not even why he knew him, though. 

He was in his first semester of Sophomore year when he got off the bus he took to his home at the time, John getting his shit kicked in by a few older boys. Dave stood up for him, and for whatever reason, the boys laid off. Either Dave had been commanding, or they were done with him anyways. His glasses had been smashed beyond repair, and his nose was bleeding so profusely that his shirt was stained red. John was still laughing, though, as Dave helped him to his feet. 

John had always been a blind bastard, his lenses so thick it was comical, and he was squinting hard just to see the few steps in front of him. Dave offered to walk him home, since he was going that way anyways. 

The first walk was awkward, the second one was better, and soon Dave was coming inside every night for dinner. John's father was a Korean immigrant, and even if they could hardly understand each other, John was able to bring them all together with humor. They had become so close that some nights he’d forget to come home, and eventually he had to be rehomed. 

He never saw, or spoke to, John again. 

Until now of course, John was as bright and bubbly as he had always been, if not a little bit of a smart ass. John suddenly closed in on Dave and gave him a hug, Dave laughing softly and hugging him back. It was nice to see an old friend like this. Especially since Dave had very few growing up. 

“You look great! You could still pass for 16” Dave teased, breaking the embrace. 

“Real certified jailbait” John laughed, and god was it contagious. He was so...cute? Maybe that first crush of butterflies was coming back to him as he remembered highschool, trying to ignore the fact that he found John so incomparably attractive. 

“What are you doing now? Like why are you here?” Dave asked, John waving over someone to grab them some drinks. Finally. 

“Well I’m actually here because he invited me, but I’m a comedian! You’ve never seen my standup?” John looked genuinely surprised, handing him a dripping wet bottle of angry orchard. 

“No, I guess I haven’t-“ 

“Have you seen his movies?” Vriska butted in, Dave completely lost in John that he almost forgot she was there. She had her own drink, already opened and halfway gone. John's face went serious as he looked at her, pursing his lips. 

“Hi Vriska, I didn’t see you” John said flatly

“Oh, I forgot you know each other” Dave said, laughing uncomfortably as he nervously looked between them. John took a drink, a cheeky smile coming back to his face, biting his tongue as it poked out of his mouth. 

“Me and Vriska go way back, although, I didn’t know a sex tape could get you into a party like this?” 

“Hey, the sex tape made me famous, it didn’t keep me famous” Vriska spit back, stepping a little too close to John for Dave’s personal comfort “I didn’t know being a boy whore got you into a party like this?” 

“I am not a boy whore, you bullheaded idiot” John came back, the cool and funny atmosphere gone as he got seriously offended. 

“Hey” another person joined the argument and everyone went quiet, the voice booming over the room. It was deep and came straight from the throat, powerful without being overly loud. Dave looked up to see it was the man he had been eyeing down earlier, finally sitting up from his comfortable position. “I don’t know who you invited, Gamzee, but I like to keep it chill in here-“ 

“It’s just Vriska, she's always like this” John interrupted, the big man's face wavering slightly as he was spoke over. John looked back at Dave with a smile and urged him to follow him to the couch. Vriska smacked her lips and migrated with Terezi to talk with Gamzee instead.

The big man didn’t need to sit up to look Dave straight in the eyes, and he was nervous to see what he looked like standing up. Being a small man was socially invalidating enough, but this guy trumped any guy Dave had met in his life. 

“Kurloz, this is Dave,” John smiled, his tone becoming uncharacteristically soft as he spoke to the big man. He opened his mouth to say something, but John interrupted him again “Oh! and...that is Kurloz too!” He turned and pointed into the room, Dave looking to see another man was looking up at them with the mention of his name. He had the same aesthetic as the other two, the long, dreaded, hair, and the piercings lining every curve of his ear. 

“It’s good to meet you, I didn’t know John had friends in the industry…” the big Kurloz spoke, somewhat accusatory of them both. He had an unapproachable energy and his eyes were narrow as he stared right into Dave’s pupils. 

“I...didn’t either” Dave choked out nervously, surprised another man could make him feel so threatened. 

“He makes those horror movies I love, and yes I have seen them all regardless of what Vriska said I just didn’t know it was you” John turned to Dave to straighten that out before looking back and forth between Dave and the big one “They are so fucking scary, and I usually hate horror, but the diversity in your films is incredible. Have you hardly ever seen gay men of color depicted well in that genre? and the fact that you have gay characters played by people who are actually a part of the community, and they are the main characters? I should’ve known only you would put that much representation in your films unprompted” 

John had never been obviously gay in highschool, infact he often defended the opposite point, he had relationships with girls and told Dave about all of the pretty ladies he liked. He knew Dave was bisexual, because it wasn’t something Dave was embarrassed to talk about, but he never opened up to him about his own attraction to men. Maybe it was his father, maybe it was his own internalized homophobia, or maybe he wasn’t ready to come to terms with it yet. Regardless, that must’ve changed. 

Kurloz Sr. obviously had a very different view on this, hardly listening to anything John was saying as he hit his blunt again. It pissed Dave off a little bit. He wouldn’t care if Kurloz was brushing off his films, or even outwardly denouncing him, but the fact that he showed such disinterest in John made Dave’s blood boil for reasons he didn’t know. 

“Sounds interesting, sit down would you?” Kurloz spoke like he was asking, but it came off as a demand. Dave was even more surprised that John complied, almost working on autopilot as his butt met the seat. Kurloz pulled his arm down and pulled John close to him, keeping his hand fastened to his hip, Dave suddenly very aware of their relationship. 

They must be dating, John just hadn’t mentioned it. His stomach sank but he wasn’t sure why, seeing as he hadn’t seen John in 20 years, was he considering he even had a chance with someone so out of his league? 

John did look at him a certain way, with a soft and relaxed eye, a resting smile pulling at his cheeks, and it made Dave feel like a little boy with a crush. He knew John must not mean to behave like that, he was just drunk right now. 

“Come sit, we can get you another drink-“ 

“Terezi” a voice suddenly called into the room, everyone looking to a very drunk man, disheveled and nervous “There's a fight on the dance floor”

“Oh goddamnit, Vriska please come help me out” Terezi groaned, Gamzee waving lazily to her, Vriska turning and waving Dave to follow. 

He begrudgingly obliges, hating to get in the middle of drunk peoples fights. Vriska always made him help, because he was a big influence too, but he honestly wanted to stay out of it. But she was looking for any reason to leave, and he wasn’t all that comfortable here either. He hated to leave John so abruptly, especially just after they started to reconnect. 

“Will I see you before I leave?” Dave asked quickly, Terezi talking with the drunk man to figure out the situation “Maybe we can-“ 

“I’ll find you! Don’t worry” John smiled, Dave’s heart pounding so hard he could almost swear it was shooting out of his chest like a movie. 

Dave was in a daze with a sheepish smile on his face before being tugged harshly by Vriska back into reality and out of the room. He stumbled after her, Terezi surprisingly quick on her feet, leaving the VIP room to rejoin the party. The crowd outside of the door had dwindled and there was shouting and cheering, the loud sounds of things falling over and crashing. 

Terezi started yelling, people parting to let her through as she smacked their ankles with her walking stick. Vriska let go of Dave’s hand as she tried to keep up with her, Dave slowly being closed back into the crowd. He worked to shove through the people, unable to catch up and eventually lost his friends. 

He decided to weasel sideways, heading for the sparse areas of the crowd to get to the patio door. Finally pulling himself from the intense crowd he slid the door open and stumbled outside. Taking a deep breath, rubbing his face, excited to ask Vriska to just take him home. This party wasn’t any better then the other parties she said would be different, and he needed to be somewhere comfortable. 

Outside was still busy, people jumping in and out of  
the jacuzzi, the support beams surrounded in red solo cups and the yard covered in litter. People ran around in their underwear and tickled each other, but no one bothered him so it didn’t matter. He sat back on the patio chair and huffed, pushing up his shades and laying his head on the headrest. It was nice to have the cold breeze on his face, the obnoxious music from inside was only muffled out here, the yelling less intrusive. It was annoying to say the least. 

Dave relaxed himself, sitting up and letting his shades slide down his forehead, stretching and reaching for his phone. Odd, could’ve sworn it was in his back pocket. Dave lifted his thigh to see if he had slid it under, lifted the other one, and stood to search the seat. He tore up every pillow and looked under the chair, peaking in the window to see if he dropped it on the floor in front of the sliding glass, but nothing. 

Fuck. 

Dave started tearing off the pillows, checking to make sure it wasn’t in any of the obvious places before he got too freaked out. He stood up to go check inside when the door slid open, John poking his head out to see him. Reaching out his hand, gripped in the pretty fingers, was his phone. 

“Oh my god, I was about to have a heart attack” Dave laughed, picking up the pillows off the ground and placing them back as neat as possible. 

“You left it on the table, I didn’t even notice until it started buzzing” John smiled, stepping outside and shutting the door behind him. 

“I’m surprised you came and gave it to me, warden seemed to have that place on secure patrol” Dave joked, getting a chuckle from John, and a playful roll of his eyes “But seriously, thank you” 

“I really did want to get out of there, all stuffy, I can only handle so much smoking and sex jokes before I need a break” John handed Dave his phone, his pretty hands not even smudging the screen as he took it. “You’d think for people who spend so much time with a comedian, they’d learn to make jokes of substance” 

“Hey, a dick joke can be pretty good” Dave defended

“Yeah, the first 8 times” John pushed his shoulder with a laugh, and Dave felt a twist. It was so funny to see someone who told jokes for a living, laugh. Something just seemed so alien about it. If Dave spent all day, every day, reciting the same two hours of scripted stories and quips, he would never want to hear another joke again. 

“You can sit-“ Dave started to offer, but John quickly shut him down. 

“No, no I can’t” He laughed again, but this one was nervous and uncomfortable “I'd love to! But Kurloz will get upset if I don’t come back soon, he hates when I leave V.I.P” 

“Why?” Dave asked, suspicious. 

“Ah who knows, he’s a control freak” John shook his head, putting his hands on his hips and quickly changing the subject. “Oh! I didn’t mean to snoop or anything, but you got a message from someone on your phone, your boyfriend or something?” 

“Boyfriend?” Dave cocked his head, lifting his phone so it would light up, seeing Dirk had texted him. He must’ve been replying to Dave’s earlier inquiring about how the boys were doing. His contact name was Bubba, and all he had said was “Dead.” with a few fire emojis. Dave laughed, his cheeks going red at the implication that his son was his boyfriend. “That’s not a boyfriend, It’s my son, Dirk, he’s just being a dick.” 

John lit up like Christmas lights, even the tips of his ears going red. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry” John apologized, laughing “I just saw his name, I thought maybe it was like a...pet name?” 

“Yeah, it’s his pet name , it’s just how he used to say ‘Brother’ when he was still a baby” Dave smirked, he couldn’t wait to tell Dirk what John had said. He slid up halfway on the screen so the time and date would disappear so John could fully see his lockscreen. It was a picture of Dirk and Dave in his convertible at the drive-in movie theatre. Dirk had ice cream all over his face, fingers hooked into his cheeks and pulling them out so you could see all his teeth. 

“Oh, is that him? He’s so cute” John smiled, and it seemed genuine. “That’s an ugly face though.” 

Dave laughed, looking at it again for himself. He looked at the picture everyday, it was burned into his brain, but he still liked to look over it fondly. “Yeah, he’s not very photogenic. Mostly because he doesn’t care” 

“Is he funny?” 

“So funny, and so smart like you wouldn’t believe” Dave hyped him up, usually not comfortable talking about his kid with anyone “This was a few years ago, he’s 12 now but this is my favorite picture of him.” 

“I’m sure he appreciates that,” John smiles, pulling away from Dave, the two men having gravitated really close to share the phone. “He’s 12? Does he go to public school? Sorry if that’s totally creepy to ask…”

“No, you're good” Dave reassured, “He goes to a private school in the city, he loves science and he’s in a robotics club, so I could never force him to go online.” 

“I’m sure he’d miss his friends too?” 

“Oh no, he doesn’t really have any” 

John made a “Pft” noise, covering his mouth as he smiled. “Well aren’t you a kind father? You weren’t really Mr.Popular in school either” 

“It’s not a bad thing! But it’s just that he’s never cared about having them, at least not vocally” Dave elaborated “He has one really good friend, and he’s a good kid, but he teases Dirk all the time, but Dirk always sticks up for himself, so i’m not worried that it affect him a lot.” 

“I’m glad! I’d love to meet him…”

Dave blushed, looking at John longingly. He loved the idea of John coming over, meeting his family, telling his jokes to Dirk. They would get along well, and maybe Dirk would even know of him already. Dirk was a little pretentious with his comedy tastes, however, even if he hates his comedy he would still know his name. 

“You can! It would be nice to have an old friend over” Dave insisted “Plus, it’ll prove to Dirk that Vriska isn’t the only person i’ve ever known.” 

“Cool! Here...” John reached for his phone and Dave gave it up willingly, John pointing it at Dave to unlock it with the face recognition. He tapped for a few seconds before holding the phone out, throwing up peace signs, the flash lighting up his face. John handed back the phone, Dave turning it over to see the fresh new contact with the brand new photo attached. “Text me really quick, I’ll save your number!” 

Dave tapped out a little message, a simple “It’s Dave”, a notification flash suddenly lighting up the porch area from John's butt pocket. 

“I’ll text you, okay?” John asked, putting a hand out and holding Dave’s shoulder. That same rush of warmth consumed his stomach, Dave getting lost just looking at John: he was mesmerizing. 

Suddenly the same flash of light came from Johns pocket, another one following directly after as he got another notification. It started to flash rapidly, John reaching to check the wrong pocket before he reached for the right one, frowning. He smiled up at Dave and gestured for Dave to give him just a minute. He must be getting a phone call. 

“Yes?” he asked, clear annoyance in his tone. Dave listened, trying to hear the conversation without being too nosy. He opened his own phone, texting back Dirk a “her her, shouldn't you be asleep?” before focusing on John again. He was leaned against one of the support beams that was holding up the balcony above them. 

“Catch an attitude? I’m not ‘Catching an Attitude’ and I'm also not a teenager” John defended himself, locking eyes with Dave before pulling away and facing the other direction so Dave couldn’t look at him. 

Dave stood by awkwardly, John getting increasingly more upset as the conversation went on. 

“I think i’ll survive walking to and from the V.I.P room for 15 minutes, baby, I've been to bigger parties—Do not call me that you asshole!” John suddenly exclaimed, pulling the phone from his ear and hanging up, grinding his teeth together. 

“Hey, sorry I didn’t mean to-“ 

“You didn’t do anything? He’s just mad he can’t get drunk, don’t pay attention to him…” John pushes his tongue on the inside of his cheek, nodding “You know, I think I would rather hang out here with you for a while.” 

Dave got a pang of excitement, as if he had won some sort of competition. John slid his phone back in his pocket, ignoring it as it flashed again, sitting in the cushioned chair. Dave took his seat again, placing his own phone on the wicker side table between them. 

“I’m glad you decided to hang, I was getting bored.” 

“Where did Vriska go?” John asked, putting his elbow on the table and leaning on his hand. 

“Who knows, she went to kick out a drunk person but I lost her” Dave shrugged “So I decided to wait here until she found me. I needed a break” 

“Fair, the music is still insanely loud out here” John grumbled “I love parties, but my headache doesn’t.” 

Dave laughed, shifting to get more comfortable. The two boys started talking aimlessly, about anything they could think of to catch up. Where Dave moved to, how John’s dad's bakery was doing, Where John was living, what movies Dave was working on, etc. It was mostly fun to watch Johns eye light up in excitement, or watch his hands gesture wildly as he talked. He was the same John that Dave always knew, and he wondered if John thought the same way of him. He was weird to look at without those clunky braces, and even though John had straightened out his teeth significantly, nothing could fix those rabbit teeth in his mouth. It was cute, and so defining. 

“So, sorry If i'm getting too comfortable but, are you still with Dirks mom? You said he's 12 right?” John made a ‘yeesh’ face, doing the math in his head. 

“Oh no, it’s not like that” Dave sat up “Dirks mom was actually my sister, I adopted him when-“ 

Their conversation was as cut short as the slider door slid open, John's eyes widening and his body tensed slightly. It wasn’t super noticeable, but with the way Dave was examining him, it was impossible to miss. Dave looked over his shoulder to see Kurloz, the big one, and Dave was starting to wish he had a nickname. 

“John, do you know how to answer a phone?” He asked gruffly, John leaning back in his seat and shaking his head, looking away. Dave didn’t, staring right up at the big name, who was giving him a death glare. “Do you?” 

“Yes, Kurloz, have you considered I didn't want to?” John crossed his arms, glancing back at the big man before looking away again. Dave smiles cheekily, getting another glare. 

“Nevermind then, do you want to do shots with us?” Kurloz asked, a sudden sweetness in his voice that wasn’t there before. It was a shocking switch, and Dave noticed it right away. 

“I don’t know” John looked back at Kurloz, still clearly upset with him “I’m busy now.” 

“Hey” Dave waved up at the big man, clearly pushing his luck and Kurloz’s patience. 

“Come on,” Kurloz insisted, not even looking at Dave anymore. John shook his head, but stood, fixing his shirt and walking over to the big man who smiled down at him. He cupped the back of John's head, and Dave was convinced if he squeezed hard enough he could crush it like a cantaloupe. John turned back to him and smiled, a real genuine smile. 

“I’ll talk to you later!” 

And like that he was gone, Kurloz Sr pulling the door shut with a slam that was absurdly aggressive. Dave stared at the door, rolling his lips together angrily. He worried about the way Kurloz spoke to John, but he didn’t know if that came from a genuine place of concern or from his prejudices against a man he had only just met. He should stop worrying about other people so much. 

He sat and waited for Vriska for 30 minutes...and then an hour…and soon 2 hours had passed and 5 calls had been left unanswered. Dave was tired of scrolling through Twitter, liking random posts he was tagged in, and getting his ass kicked by Dirk in 8-ball. 

Dave stood, opening the same door that had been slammed in his face, the extreme volume of the music coming back to him. God was that annoying. He was getting tired, hadn't drank enough to start now, and wanted to go home. He tapped on every shoulder of the people he thought looked approachable, asking if they had seen a mixed blonde alpha, possibly shitfaced, and definitely lost. No one had seen her, lazily pointing him away to lead him on the world's most infuriating wild goose chase. 

He avoided an actor he had a twitter fight with, had an awkward conversation with a super fan of his who came as a plus one, and finally spotted the back of Vriska's head from across the party. She slung back a shot, turning to whoever she was sitting with to laugh. Dave pushed through the crowd and came up behind her, scaring her as he touched her neck. 

“What th- Dave you scared me” Vriska shook her head, looking over her arm at him. She was drunk, face bright red and sick, eyes red. He didn’t care what she had done, as long as she was done doing it. 

“It’s time to leave” He insisted, embarrassed about how much of a dad he’d become. 

“Whaaat” Vriska frowned, throwing her head back and groaning “That’s not fair…” 

“I don’t want to be here man, I’m not having a good time, but I can’t leave you here” Dave said, looking up at the others he was with, only the nearest to her listening to him. The young looking guy he had met before was there, staring deeply at him. Gamzee was his name, Dave tried to remember. 

“Fine, whatever” She rolled her eyes and stood up, groaning. Vriska acted like she was 20 years older then she really was, saying her long winded goodbyes and Gamzee urged her to not forget anything. 

The two left the party without a second spared of complaining, Vriska dragging her feet and stopping at any conversation she could. Dave had to physically start pulling her at parts. He also had to battle for the keys, Vriska acting oblivious to her intoxication and Dave’s desire to not get arrested. Regardless, he ended up in the driver's seat and pulled down the now entirely dark driveway, Vriska scrolling through all of her downloaded music. She had her feet up on the dash, her drunk mumbling meaning nothing to Dave as she tried to protest lazily. 

He drove her home in silence, Vriska having fallen asleep before clicking anything, and Dave too nervous to reach over and start a song. Her car drove steady, but he definitely did not. 

Hoisting her up the stairs was another challenge, dragging her half asleep, lazy, corpse was a nightmare when he was half a foot smaller than her. Vriska's sudden bursts of fighting didn’t do much to help him either, insisting he take her back to the party before passing out again. Dave smacked his keys aimlessly against the keycard until his copy of her apartment key beeped green and he could open the door. 

“Stoppp” Vriska whined, stumbling into her apartment and letting Dave guide her to the couch. She slumped into the expensive, plush, cushion. It was comfortable to a fault for Dave, and he hated sleeping on it drunk, but Vriska didn’t look willing to move. Dave pulled a blanket over her, pushing her hair away from her face. 

“I’m hiding your keys, call me in the morning when you need them” Dave told her, opening his phone to order an uber, sitting on the edge of the couch to keep her from escaping. She rolled on her side, snuggling into the couch and letting her blonde hair recover her face. Dave chuckled, turning on the tv and letting whatever telenovela she was watching, resume. 

He kept his promise, quietly pulling open the freezer and shoving her keys inside a bag of frozen dumplings. Dave watched her fall asleep, waiting at the door for the text from his driver, looking up when his phone rang to see Vriska was sitting up looking at him. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll lock the door-“ 

“Did you have a bad time?” She asked, pushing back her hair and digging through the sleeves of her shirt to take off her bra. 

“Yeah, but I didn’t think I was gonna have a good time. Seeing John was pretty cool but it’s not like that can really go anywhere” Dave shrugged, glancing down at the messages his uber was sending him. 

“Dave, you can’t hide away forever” Vriska sighed, slinging away her bra “Dirk is gonna grow up, and you won’t be a dad forever, man, you’ve gotta atleast get an on and off fling or something” 

“Vriska-“ 

“Seriously dude, you’ve never been so lonely before. I know you care a lot about Dirk, he’s cool, but you can’t live your life for him” Vriska paused “Okay well, he is your responsibility but…”

“There are things about kids that you just don’t understand, Vrissy” Dave sighed “I’ll date when Dirk is moved out and I'm a sexy salt-n-pepper. It’s not fair to insert a random stranger into his life so late-“ 

“You’re a lost cause, man” Vriska laid back down, snuggling up “Should we start buying the cats now, or wait a couple of weeks?” 

“Goodnight, Vriska” 

“You never got to party, or be 20, or anything” Vriska stopped him from leaving, Dave sighing and letting go of the door handle. “You are one foot in the grave.” 

“I’m 32” Dave rolled his eyes, finally opening the door and stepping into the hallway “Goodnight.” 

He locked the door, jogging down the stairs and getting into the car. The uber was old, and didn’t speak english or spanish, so the ride was quiet. They pulled up to his penthouse and he pulled out his wallet, slipping some cash out and rolling it up to tip the driver, watching him drive away before going inside. The lady he knew upfront was gone, a younger girl waving at him. Dave waved back, swiping his card and walking into the elevator. He was tired, and he knew those boys weren’t asleep. The doors opened, and his suspicions were correct, both of them looking over the back of the couch at him. 

“It’s 2am, have you lost your minds?” Dave scolded, Dirk stood, almost slipping on the smooth floors, walking over to him and looking back at Jake who was propping himself up. 

“The movie was scary as balls” Dirk admitted, Jake laughing at him and pushing up his glasses “It was really gorey…” 

“You are such a girl” Jake teased, jumping down and walking over to the both of them. 

“So what?!” Dirk defended, Dave stopping them before he had to break up anything heated. 

“You can’t act like a girl, Jake” Dave started “and I told you not to watch something that would make you scared, i’m tired as hell and I didn’t wanna deal with this right now” 

“I’m sorry” Dirk grumbled, glaring at Jake who was still smiling like a dork “We had to wait for you because I needed permission to sleep in my bed with Jake.”

Dave only had 3 rules when it came to Dirk, strict ones anyway, and they were simple. Don’t let anyone up, No double sleepovers, and No sleeping in bed with friends. That was a new one, seeing as Dirk only had one friend. Dave was tired and didn’t really want to say yes, but he didn’t really wanna deal with Dirk waking him up every 10 minutes. He crossed his arms, looking between them, and smiling. 

“If you pick up all this shit, and put the dishes in the dishwasher, you can sleep in the same bed” Dave agreed, Dirk and Jake fistbumping. “But” he started, both boys looking back nervously “If I find out anything I don’t wanna find out, no more sleepovers, period.” 

“Oh god, Dad, gross” Dirk shoved him, Jake sticking out his tongue in disgust. Dave chuckled, messing up Dirk's hair and pushing him towards the living room to get to the mess. To be fair, he hated sleeping out here at night too. It was dark, even with the city skyline, and it was so open and hard to hear any movement on the expensive floorboards. 

Dave pushed off his shoes, flicking on the bathroom light to see that Dirk had taken his medicine, closing it and sliding it back into its spot in the cabinet. He had to pick up after these boys like they were toddlers, and he questioned if they had actually grown out of babysitters yet. It would make his life a lot more convenient if they hadn’t, but Dirk didn’t even behave when he was young enough to be looked after. Dave peaked into the living room, the boys laughing loudly as they cleaned things up and poorly loaded the dishwasher. 

“Why don’t you have maids” Jake groaned, never a moment held still. He jumped and bounced back and forth on his feet, dumping out the rest of the uneaten popcorn mixture into the trash can. 

“Why don’t you have maids” Dirk asked, shoving a bowl into the dishwasher haphazardly. Jake laughed, handing him the popcorn bowl, Dirk sweeping it under the water once, and tossing it. Dave sighed, shaking his head and taking to his own room. 

His room, Dirk's room, and the bathroom were the only rooms in the penthouse separated by any walls, all together in one small hallway. Dirk got the bigger room, he had a hell of a lot more shit then Dave did, and Dave didn’t care. Flicking on the light, the fan started to slowly come to life, and the room was navigable. His bed was in the middle, pushed against his back wall, a large closet with glass sliding doors making him look at himself. Dave walked into the room, throwing his keys down on his dresser and stretching. He was so glad to be home, grabbing the remote and turning on the tv, disregarding what he was actually watching. 

Shutting his door, he slid out of his sweaty party clothes. He didn’t know why he wasted his time dressing up and looking nice for these things, because it never served him any good. Sliding off his shirt, he looked at himself in the mirror. He needed a new tattoo, something to fill in the space that his other tattoos didn’t. He never knew what to get, and he learned his lesson about getting drunk tattoos with Vriska as your determination. Dave wouldn’t have her name tattooed on his hip bone otherwise. 

That probably wouldn’t do well for him in hookup situations, people don’t usually appreciate sucking off someone who has another woman’s name permanently poked into their skin. 

She was also the only reason his dick was pierced. In turn, he was the only reason her nipples were pierced, so they were even. 

Dave always slept in just his boxers, kicking his clothes to the base of his hamper to pick up later, turning off the light and crawling into bed. It was so nice to stretch out in his cool, comfortable, bed. Dave turned down the Tv until he could hardly make out what anyone was saying, rolling over on his stomach and buried his face into the pillow. Dave always has trouble sleeping, having to focus on something to sway him. 

He hoped Vriska stayed asleep, and he hoped Dirk and Jake didn’t do anything he was worried they would do, but mostly he thought about John. 

John had always been cute, and Dave had many half second ponders about his crush on him, but now he was especially handsome. Dave had always had a preference for asians, men and women, and something about John was especially attractive. Maybe it was his slight figure, or his big, cute, glasses, and maybe it was his funny laugh. The way he opened his mouth wide, throwing his head back every time, laughing straight from the throat. John was well aware that he was constantly attracting attention, it was in the nonchalant way he behaved so boisterously. Dave could think of his silly hand gestures, but he couldn’t stop imagining his bare shoulders…He wondered if his ass always looked that good or was it just in those jeans, and those pretty hands were haunting him. Dainty wouldn’t be the right word, because when he cracked his knuckles you could see his veins, but they were skinny and attractive. In a way that Dave’s weren’t. 

His face was warm but he closed his eyes, trying to think of absolutely anything else, slowly drowning out the tv and falling asleep.


	2. Dinner with people in high places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave has to preform daily dad duties, John comes over for dinner, and Dirk complains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little chapter for some character set up, relationship information, and all sorts of boring fic flavor nonsense. Enjoy!

Dave woke up slowly, the sun hitting his face and making it hard to stay asleep, lifting up an arm to lay over his eyes so he could steal a few more minutes of shut eye. The windows that lined the wall behind his bed were absurdly large, facing the east, so the sun was always inconveniently beating down on his face after a long, drunk, night. 

He didn’t need to be completely awake to notice he had company nuzzled up against his side, Dave instinctively cuddling him closer. He knew he wasn’t nearly drunk enough last night to have forgotten he brought home company, so it was easy to deduce that Dirk had joined him in bed without looking. He did look down, however, to see the mess of blonde hair pushed into his ribcage. He could feel Dirks labored breathing as he pressed himself into Dave, and he had no idea why he forced himself to struggle like that, there was no way it could be comfortable. 

Dave stretched, yawning obnoxiously loud to stir Dirk, earning a tired squint. He pulled his face away, rubbing his eyes and uncurling his legs. Dave ran his fingers through his hair, trying to understand where Dirk got all of those freckles. He looked like the splatter brush on an art program had spilled all over his cheeks and shoulders, and his blonde hair against his dark skin was something he must’ve inherited from his grandfather. Dave had the same gene, but Dirk was darker than him, and it was a lot more striking. 

“What are you doing, little man?” Dave asked, ruffling his already disheveled hair. He didn’t recognize his voice like this, scratchy and tired with sleep, never this deep. Dirk sat up, suddenly dizzy, swaying and blinking to regain composure. Dave reached out a hand so Dirk didn’t lean off the bed, chuckling quietly. 

“It’s fine” Dirk assures, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing them with the balls of his hand “I’m always dizzy when I first wake up.” Dirk smacked his lips, crawling closer to Dave so he wasn’t so near the edge. 

“You didn’t answer me” Dave reminded him

“Oh” Dirk remembered “We’ve gotta take Jake home.” 

Dave groaned, letting his head fall back dramatically, reaching up to rub his face. Dirk rolled his eyes, grabbing Dave’s shoulders and trying to shake him. 

“That’s something I would’ve rather been told before I agreed to let him come over” Dave complained, throwing his legs over the side of the bed to stand. Dirk followed his lead, stumbling again as he stood too fast. Dave grabbed him, pushing him towards the door “Okay, go take ya’ pills” he ushered. 

“You know I addict easily” Dirk insisted, putting up his finger as if it was matter-of-fact. 

“Don’t repeat shit you hear me say and don’t understand” Dave pushed him by his head as they walked into the hallway, Dirk parted for the bathroom, and Dave to the living room, seeing Jake sitting on the couch watching morning cartoons. The boy looked over the couch, Dave realizing all at once that the only thing he was wearing was underwear. “Oh! Good morning, Jake.” 

“Good morning, Dirk's dad,” Jake waved, Dirk running from the bathroom to join him on the couch. The boys wrestled over the spot they were sitting in, Dirk insisting that he was ‘there first’ as they pushed. 

Jake was a likable kid, and Dave was happy he was who Dirk chose to be friends with. They were very different, like, absurdly different, but that seemed to be why they got along so well. Jake had a questionable family, and he wasn’t raised quite as open minded as Dirk had been, and Dave was always nervous to be around his grandfather. His grandpa was a little rude, a little homophobic, and made one too many jokes regarding Dave’s legality. 

“When does Jake need to go home?” 

“Like… now?” Dirk answered nonchalantly, still shoving Jake playfully as they sat on the couch. 

“Goddamn, Jake, your family hate fun or something?” Dave teased, walking over to them and propping himself up on the back of the couch, looking at the tv.

“My grandpa likes me home early, cause he doesn’t like when I’m gone all the time” Jake said, pulling up his legs to reinforce his shoving power. “And he also hates fun, yes.” 

“Okay boys, break it up, get your shoes on” Dave announced, clapping his hands together. They both rushed to their feet, running to the door and fighting to be there first, laughing as they tried to hurry with putting on their shoes. Dave shook his head, pushing the button so they could crash inside, Jake pushing the button before Dirk could. 

“Hey!” he complained 

“You boys sound like a herd of elephants” Dave presses the button to close the doors, the boys continuing their race as they get to the ground floor. Dave walked normally, waving at the lady in the lobby, getting Déjà vu as he reentered the car park, the boys laughing and yelling echoing in the concrete building. They were arguing at the car, Dirk hanging on the door handle like he wasn’t supposed to do, Dave shimmying past Jake to open the front door. 

“I got here first!” Dirk protested, opening the door and climbing into the front seat. 

“No way! I totally beat you” Jake crawled to the middle of the backseat so he could lean forward and talk to Dirk. “You were eating my dust.” 

“You had a shorter distance to run, so technically I won” Dirk insisted. 

“That’s not how races work!” 

“Seatbelts please” Dave interrupted, both boys pouting as they relaxed into their seats and buckled up. He did like Jake, but one thing he couldn’t stand was just how much they argued, and how competitive they were. It’s just the way kids are, but as he got older he lost a tolerance for it. Dirk was pretty chill, but once he mixed with Jake it was chaos. It was fine, because that’s good for him, and it’s part of growing up, but he wished they just did it a little less often. Dave reached a hand up, pushing a button on the ceiling of the car, the entire thing shifting away from the window. 

The convertible opened up, the oily air from the car park flooding in, making Dirk scrunch his nose. Dave drove out of the building, the early morning sun beating on their faces. It wasn’t too hot, seeing as the wind blew at them and cooled them off, Dirks shaggy hair flying around. Jake and Dave’s hair wasn’t long enough to blow in the wind, but Jake did stick his tongue out like a dog as the wind hit his face.

Jake lived almost 20 minutes away from them, but only about 5 minutes from Dirks school, so it was something he was used to. The commute wasn’t so bad, especially since Dave liked long drives. 

They pulled into Jake’s driveway, approaching his beautiful house. He came from old money, living in a manor three times the size of Dave’s last highschool. It had gorgeous large windows, a huge garden, and a wrap around porch. The bay window in the front shined with the real candle chandelier in his dining room, a place Dave had eaten in before, and you could see someone walking around. The front door looked magical, large and well carved, a large handmade plaque out front with his family’s name carved into it. 

He parked, taking the boys to the front door. Dave was going to knock, but Jake just opened the door and ran inside, Dirk following his lead. Dave awkwardly stepped inside, the smell of a well fragranced house was refreshing, shutting the door behind him. Dirk was waiting for him, Jake halfway up the staircase facing them. It wasn’t long before he was dragging his grandfather down the stairs by his hand, Grandpa struggled to hit every step as his rowdy grandson brought him before his guests. 

“Good morning” Dave smiled awkwardly, Grandpa so friendly in the face. He was always smiling, a big fluffy mustache making him look like a beardless santa— a beardless, completely old-man-ripped santa. 

“Well hello! and hello Dirk” Grandpa greeted, ruffling the little boy's hair. Dirk waved shyly, pressing himself closer to Dave in the way he usually did. 

“Sorry I, uh, came in unannounced” Dave apologized, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh, no bother” Grandpa dismisses “Jake brings anyone here like he owns the house, it’s common place these days.” He ushered Dave to come into the home, Jake and Dirk running up the stairs to presumably wherever Jake’s room must be. “Regardless, you take care of Jake so often you might as well be immediate family!” 

“It’s not a problem really, he’s great to have around” Dave assures, letting Grandpa guide him to the large dining area you could see from the window. There was a bar built into the wall, and two people were already present. An older woman who was sitting on one of the dining room chairs, long silky black hair tied up into a bun, staring out the window blankly. The other girl was Jake’s older sister, Jade, whom Dave had met before. She was a few years younger than him, and was incredibly pretty. She wore big, funny, circle glasses, and was currently delivering a tray of snacks to her grandmother. 

She stopped to smile at her grandpa, and her face slowly went neutral as she saw Dave. It was a suspicious look, darting her eyes back to grandpa with a narrow expression, placing the tray on the table. 

“Jade, you remember Dave?” Grandpa asked 

“Sorta… I've picked up Jake from your house right?” she cooled, seemingly remembering him better. 

“Yeah, a few times” Dave shrugged, Jade pulling the plate from the tray and placing it in front of grandma, who didn’t move. She could pass for dead if she wasn’t breathing, and blinking, which unnerved Dave. 

“I remember now” Jade sat up straight, her round cheeks pushing up her glasses as her bubbly voice returned “You got Jake that bug catching game for christmas!” 

“Yeah! Yeah I did” Dave remembered “and you got Dirk that tiny robot kit, he loved that thing.” 

They shared a laugh and Dave smiled warmly at her. Jade really was very pretty, and he wondered just how young she actually was. She had such a softness to her that he felt embarrassed to be attracted to her. She must be at least 21 because he had seen Grandpa endorsing her drinking, and although he had seen a parent or two who didn’t keep their children’s best interests in mind, he was certain Grandpa was not one of those. Jade also has a shooting license, something he learned when seriously enforcing that Dirk will not be receiving a gun for his birthday, so that must mean something. 

Grandpa faced Dave, leaning against the arched entrance to the room, crossing his...sexy ass arms. He was too old to still be a gilf, but Dave had to give credit where credit was due. “Did he give you too much trouble?” Grandpa asked, assumably referring to Jake. 

“Not at all, they just watched a bunch of movies and went to bed early because of Dirks medication, so it was way more peaceful then it usually is” Dave fibbed with a laugh, Grandpa seeming to buy into it. He didn’t think he would appreciate knowing that Dave left his grandson unsupervised in the late hours of the night, came back past 12, and let them sleep together in the same bed. Grandpa had already grown hyper critical of everything Dave did after Dirk had accidentally let Grandpa in on his bisexuality, so he was constantly trying to prove himself as a responsible adult. 

Though it really shouldn’t be his responsibility to owe him anything. 

“Jake, going to bed early? Teach me your ways” Grandpa jokes, Dave laughing along nervously. 

“It beats me really, they are usually a handful” 

“Dirk is a good kid, quiet too, I can imagine dealing with Jake is a culture shock” Grandpa smiled, disappearing under his mustache. 

“It’s actually a lot of fun” 

“I’m glad” Grandpa stood up off the wall “Have you been working on anything new lately? Only if you can tell me, that is.” He winked playfully. 

“Oh, actually I’m not-“ 

Dave was suddenly interrupted by a phone call, digging into his pocket to see who it might be. He never got phone calls, especially not while he wasn’t working on things, unless it was Vriska of course.

Speaking of, Vriska hadn’t called him yet. He made a mental note to call her soon. 

Pulling out his phone he saw the brand new contact name glowing on his screen, John's drunk face in the icon photo. He had actually called him...Woah. 

“I’m so sorry, I gotta answer this” Dave excused himself, Grandpa insisting that he apologize less. He walked away from the house owners, slipping into the only bathroom he remembered, and sliding to answer the call. It beeped for a few seconds before he heard anything, putting the phone to his ear. 

“Hello?” 

“Dave? Hey!” John sounded chipper, and almost a little surprised. Maybe he was just as shocked that Dave answered that Dave was shocked that he called. 

“Hey! What’s up?” 

“Oh nothin’” John answered “I’m trying to write jokes right now but i’m...so unfunny” 

“Unfunny is like… the last adjective a comedian wants to be” Dave joked, leaning against the counter. The broken up laugh he got from John filled him with victory, like a teenage girl getting a boy to remember her name. 

“Yeah, no kidding…” John paused “but hey, I did call you for a reason!” 

“Did you?” 

“Duh, I was actually gonna ask if you wanted to get dinner tonight?” 

Dave felt himself flush, standing up straight and clearing his throat. He tried to sound cool, keeping his composure as he talked. 

“Well um, I can’t really go anywhere but you could come over and I can cook for you?” 

“You cook?” John asked excitedly 

“Yeah, if you like Mexican food… or spaghetti” 

John giggled, making Dave blush again. 

“I'd love that, um, whichever you feel like making! I’ll literally eat anything” John insisted, Dave smiling softly. 

“Yeah, i’m glad you called me early because I would’ve not had anything to make dinner with at home” Dave admitted “Dirk eats literally all of our groceries in the house, I never have anything.”

“Dirk! Oh my gosh, I can meet your son!” 

“Oh yeah, you’ve never met him” Dave chuckled, John audibly clicking his pen rapidly. “It’s so crazy”

“Crazy for you? I literally haven’t seen you since you were 16, and now you have a baby? That’s crazy… well not a baby, more like a teenager… tweenager?” 

Dave laughed at that term. It was so middle school, and he hadn’t seen the term tweenager since he was buying Tween Magazine in 8th grade. 

“Okay, how about you come over around 5?” 

“Hell yeah! I’ll see you den’” John mumbled, something now inside his mouth. Seeing as the pen clicking had stopped, he must be chewing on it. 

“Okay, bye-“ 

“Bye!” and John hung up, the phone beeping. Dave felt like he was on cloud 9, even though he couldn’t treat this like a date. It made him so soft, and he was actually excited to see him.

He wasn’t excited, on the other hand, to go to the store. Grocery shopping was a chore, and even when he shopped in the hills he couldn’t do it peacefully. He’d just run in and out, that was simple, but getting out of this house that quickly was not. 

Dave left the bathroom, finding Grandpa again, who greeted him with a smile and offered him the fanciest bottled water Dave had ever seen. He gladly accepted. 

“Was it an emergency?” Grandpa asked, hand resting on his wife's shoulder. 

“Oh no, just a friend of mine asking what time he should be over for dinner, that’s all…” Dave said awkwardly, Grandpa looking at him suspiciously. It was a very sus way to word something, especially as a man who loved men. “I have to make dinner tonight, and lord knows my boy is picky.” 

“I understand that” Grandpa chuckled, the energy in the room much more relaxing. “Jake will eat anything he finds on the ground, eat strange berries from a tree, or bugs, but won’t eat a burger with cheese!” 

“It makes no sense” Dave shook his head, trying desperately to keep up the conversation. He had always thrived on rehearsed dialogues, when he could get into a process of answering things, like at a Q&A. But real human interaction required a level of extrovert abilities that Dave just didn’t have, and the tension was killing him. Grandpa usually saved them from sitting like this for too long, however. 

“You should be getting to the store, right?” Grandpa urged, moving closer to Dave. “Unless you prepared to cook ahead?” 

“Yeah, I need to hit the store…” Dave grinded his teeth, starting to shake his foot, flinching and laughing awkwardly as Grandpa shouted for the boys. They were down the stairs in seconds, Dirk slowly stepping down behind Jake as to not slip and fall, walking over to Dave and sticking to him like glue again. “Thank you for having us.” 

“Of course, any time” Grandpa insisted, walking them to the door and pushing Jake to follow. He didn’t appreciate how rough he was with his grandson, but it really wasn’t his place to protest against it. “See you soon, Dirk.” He addressed him specifically, Dirk getting a usual bout of shyness and hiding his face behind Dave. 

Dave opened the door, waving and pulling them both outside. Shutting the door they went to the car quietly, sitting inside and looking at each other. 

“I hate his grandpa so much” Dirk confessed

“He’s so charming, but so unlikable at the same time?” Dave agreed, pulling out of the driveway. 

“He’s really mean to Jake” Dirk slumped into the seat, putting his feet up on the dash like he wasn’t supposed to do. 

“How mean?” 

“I dunno, like not as nice as you?” 

“I’m too nice, little man” Dave shook his head with a giggle, Dirk leaning forward to channel surf “Speaking of, an old friend of mine is coming over for dinner, so what are we having?” 

“Hmm” Dirk thought “Carne” 

“Do you want tacos or de asada?” 

“Tacos, duh” Dirk made a silly face, leaning back against the seat as he decided on the music he wished to listen to. This was his world and everyone else was living in it as far as Dave was concerned. 

He drove to the store, running in and avoiding anyone who tried to approach him, only talking to a few younger fans who excitedly addressed him. Dirk was still waiting for him in the car when he got back, which always filled Dave with a little bit of anxiety when he left him alone, but Dirk didn’t care at all. He leaned back on his phone, the 15 second audio clips getting interrupted as he scrolled in boredom. 

They were home before 12, and Dave barely got a second to chill before he needed to start cooking. Dirk followed him around the kitchen, almost getting elbowed in the face on multiple occasions, insisting he help cut things and flip the tortillas with his fingers. 

The buzzing ringing into the apartment wasn’t usual for either of the boys, looking up in confusion for only half a second before Dave quickly wiped his hands and pushed down the paging button to answer. 

“Dave, you have a visitor waiting? One…. John Egbert? Were you expecting him or should we all security-“ 

“No, no, I was expecting him. Send him up” Dave shook his head with a smile, the buzzer clicking as he moved his finger. He looked back at Dirk, who was still in his pajamas. “Go change, knucklehead” 

The elevator dinged and had probably been used more by Dave’s family in this one day then it was ever used, Dave trying his hardest not to creep at the doors as they slid open. 

His face roasted when he saw John again, and that familiar excitement filled his stomach. How could one person make him feel so giddy. Dave felt an urge to impress, to make him laugh, to make him smile. It was something he hadn’t felt in a long, long, time. If anyone else saw John, they’d understand. His hair was far less disheveled now, seeing as he was hopefully sober, but his cheeks still had that intoxicated roseiness to them. His brown eyes flicked to catch Dave’s, so dark they almost appeared black, and his smile widened and deepened his dimples. He stepped inside, looking down at the shoes around the elevator and beginning to pull off his own. 

“You’re a grown man, you don’t have to do that-“ 

“I’ve lived my entire life taking off my shoes on the front porch, I don’t mind” John dismisses him, pushing his shoes neatly with his foot. His socks were cute, covered in little dogs, and he slid his foot around on the hardwood. “Your floors are so nice, I don’t wanna wear shoes on it anyways!” 

“Suit yourself” Dave complies, putting up his hands dismissively. The sound of Dirks bedroom door clicking got his attention. 

“It smells amazing in here” John complimented, looking back and then instantly passed Dave, smiling with his teeth “Hello! Are you Dirk?” 

Dave had never seen Dirk behave so shyly in a very long time, picking at his nails and nodding silently, slowly walking up to Dave and pressing his shoulder into Dave’s side. He was wearing his shades again, and they did a good job of hiding his wide eyes, shifting on his feet endlessly. Dave nudged him, and Dirk nodded with no answer. 

“I’m John, a friend of your dads” John filled him in quickly, lolling like he assumed Dirk already knew all the details “You don’t have to be shy with me, honestly, your dad was 1000% worse at your age!” 

“He’s still shy…” Dirk answered quietly, John's eyes sparkling with victory. “He’s just better at hiding it now.”

“You’re one to talk” Dave pushed his head, making him stumble, Dirk taking this opportunity to run back to the couch and slouch into the seat comfortably. John smiled, looking back at Dave as he rolled his eyes. “He’s always like this, don’t take it too personally” 

“Ah, shy kids are my forte” John elbowed him with a wink, showing himself to the kitchen. Dave liked how comfortable he was, especially since Dave was so, so uncomfortable. “What did you make?” 

“Steak tacos,” Dave answered, stuttering. John looked up at him with a smile, almost like he knew what he was doing. Dave shouldn’t assume someone in a relationship was flirting with him, in fact, he shouldn’t just assume someone was flirting with him period. That’s how college boys got charges, but he couldn’t tell if John meant to send signals. Even if he did, Dave wouldn’t come on to anyone in a relationship, he wasn’t a home wrecker. Maybe it was just gay panic? Everytime a guy was nice to him or wanted to be his friend he always ended up sleeping with them, that’s why his only long term friend is a lesbian. Dave liked girls too, but he just preferred men. Well… sorta. He dated more girls, because they were easier, but he liked sex with men more. Well… maybe that wasn’t true either. He always considered himself 50/50- 

“Dave? You home?” John waved his hand in front of his face with a laugh, Dave blinking back into the land of the living. He must’ve been staring, John looking suddenly uncomfortable. 

“Yeah, sorry, spacing off.” 

“You’re good! I was worried I lost you there for a second” John teased, Dave smiling. He called Dirk over, putting him to work and making him move their drinks to the table, Dave making his plate for him. John took the liberty of making his own, waiting for Dave before moving to the table. There was really no comfortable way to segway to dinner when you ate at home, so they didn’t bother. 

They ate semi-quietly, most of the talking consisting of Dave asking John questions, and John rambling. It was nice, and Dave valued a friend who didn’t mind a good listener. He didn’t need to figure much out about John, since he’d known him long enough. 

“How’s your dad?” Dave asked, spooning rice into his mouth. Johns face surprisingly soured. 

“Oh um, we haven’t really talked... in years” He stressed, nodding at Dave’s disbelief, 

“Really? You guys were so close” 

“Yeah, he was pissed when I moved out of the state, he called me a few times when I first moved but then... I dunno, he just stopped calling.” 

“I’m sorry to bring it up, man.” 

“It’s cool! I honestly think he went back to Korea, he’d probably be happier there anyways.”

Dirk was the first to finish, usually quick with his favorite meals, squirting the lime into his mouth and leaving the table without excusing himself. He darted for the bathroom, the shower turning on. 

“That boy…” Dave grumbled, leaning over and pushing in the chair that his son had left completely pushed out, opting to deal with the plate later. 

“All jokes aside, he is way more shy than you ever were” John laughed, taking a drink of his Smirnoff. Dave was incredibly surprised with how well someone so slight took their alcohol, especially since John had been white girl wasted only last night. It was kinda impressive. “Is he like this with every stranger you bring over?” 

“I think it’s less that you're a stranger, and more that you're here at all” Dave said between bites “We don’t usually have company unless it’s his company, and if not it’s always just us…” 

“So you weren’t lying when you said you weren’t seeing anybody, huh?” 

“I had no reason to lie- Wait, you thought I was lying?” Dave interrupted himself, John laughing. 

“Well, yeah” He said, as if it was obvious, brushing him off with a hand gesture “I thought that sister thing was a ploy, like you were embarrassed to tell me you knocked up some rando or something!” 

“No, not at all” Dave was actually surprised John thought that, but he had been really drunk. “No, he’s my sisters.” 

“Oh…” John shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Dave but not wasting too much time on stalling. He took another drink, obviously preparing himself for the heavy question Dave was already expecting “What happened to her?” 

What happened to her, honestly? Because Dave had no real understanding of it either, where she was, how she got there, if she was alive… 

“It’s a long story but-“ 

“I can handle a long story.” 

Dave smiled, something about his straightforward nature was really comforting. 

“Well, I never knew my sister, big shock I know” Dave took a drink “We got separated in the system probably the year my bro died, I can’t remember a single home we shared, and I kind of forgot about her? But 12 years ago, these policemen showed up to my house in Long Beach and asked if I knew a ‘Rose Lalonde’...” 

And Dave told the story exactly how it happened; His popularity just started to rise, the summer heat on his face as he pulled open the door, the chopped up RIOT GRRRL muscle shirt he was wearing. How he almost refused to go with the officers, opening the door with a declaration of his citizenship, but ultimately agreed to go to the apartment once a possible relative was mentioned. 

He regaled the long drive, the sun setting over the beach, and the insane amount of police cars in the parking lot of the apartment. How he barely got an explanation as he was flashed a series of pictures of a woman he’d never seen, who looked like him. It was confusing, and Vriska wasn’t answering her phone. The girl in the photos was Rose Lalonde, and Dave was her only living family in America. 

At first, he had no idea what any of this had to do with anything. Was she a wanted criminal? Had she killed herself and mentioned him in her note? Was she here, holding a group of orphan hostages and will only let them go in the circumstance that Dave reveals himself to her? No, it wasn’t any of those things, 

It was the small, screaming, newborn baby she had abandoned in a crib for the past few days. Rose was last seen leaving the apartment at the start of that weekend, and although the baby normally cried often, the neighbors put in a bunch of noise complaints until the landlord finally got annoyed and dealt with the issue himself.

The landlord pounded on the door before warning her a few times, finally unlocking it. The house smelled like rotten food, her bedroom was torn apart, her essentials missing, and the baby laid crying in its crib. The landlord scooped up the baby and called the police immediately, it almost starved, they told him. 

The baby was a boy, and she hadn’t named it yet. In California, you could wait a full year to name a baby, and she had just written “baby boy” on the tag of his onesie. Dave recalled holding him, looking down at his tired face, and crying. The baby reminded him of himself, especially when the idea of it being carted into the same foster care system Dave was abandoned in came up, under the occasion that Dave wouldn’t take it, anyways. He learned that week that adoption papers were significantly easier to sign and pass on than he had ever considered. 

“I named him Dirk, and I refused to continue to help with the investigation.” 

“Goddamn… that’s heavy” John chuckled in disbelief, drinking again. “They never found her?”

“Never told me if they did, anyways.” 

The boys sat uncomfortably for a few seconds, Dave starting to feel the stress of anxiety consume him. He was so out of practice with others, and he wished life was as simple as it was when he first met John. He was anxious, sure, but the flexibility of permanence was always on his side. Now, this was his life, this was the life he’d keep until he couldn’t keep it anymore, and everything seemed way more real. Life meant nothing to him then, and now it means everything; Impressing John means everything to him. Was he being a little dramatic? Sure, but if you saw John you’d get it. 

“But, now that that’s out of the way” Dave cut in, John laughing nervously, taking a drink “You like dudes?!” 

John finally laughed for real, blushing. “That's my elephant in the room, huh?” 

“Teenaged me would’ve loved to know that” Dave said honestly, John getting redder. 

“Oh yeah, me too” John said, taking a nervous sip “I guess it just came with age.” 

“When did you realize?” Dave leaned forward on the table, John clearly embarrassed. It was all in good fun, however. 

“Probably at like… 25? Kurloz has been my, like, first long term boyfriend” John admitted, Dave a little surprised. “I met him… almost 2 years ago? We’ve been dating for a year though, officially anyways.” 

“Well congrats, um… I guess I only knew you when you weren’t out, or anything, but he doesn’t seem like your type?” Dave asked “Sorry to assume but-“ 

“Oh he isn’t” John answered bluntly, always laughing, swigging a drink “But damn he sure convinced me he was. He’s incredibly charming.” Dave stood to get more drinks, John offering him his empty bottle, still listening as he walked to the kitchen. “I actually didn’t trust him at first, he was a little suspect, but he was really nice and honest, he’s a lot more bearable when he isn’t with his friends…” 

“I was gonna say, Charming isn’t exactly the word I'd use to describe him,” Dave came back, cracking open the beer cap and sliding the bottle to John. 

“He was being a dick at the party, he has major jealousy issues, but he’s really kindhearted” John insisted “I mean, he only has 2 sons but over 12 people live in his house consistently. He lets people stay free of charge just so they won’t be out on the streets, especially families, he’s a huge softy for kids.” 

“Really? I honestly wouldn’t have gotten that from him.” 

“Well he has two of his own” John smiled “not that his parenting choices are ideal.”

“Yeah, um, I was gonna ask” Dave scoffed “How old is Gamzee? Like honestly…” 

“Um… he’s a junior this year-“ 

“A Junior? In Highschool?!” Dave was shocked, shades sliding down his nose. John laughed, that big laugh that Dave loved. 

“Yes! I know, I know it’s not okay” John covered his mouth every time he smiled, and Dave wondered why. “He’s been drinking since he was like, 11, and Kurloz does so many drugs it’s not healthy. He fucked up baby K enough, anyways” 

“I would majorly fuck up anyone who gave Dirk alcohol or drugs, I can’t believe he’s fine with it” 

“Lord knows my dad would’ve killed me” John smiled

“I’m surprised he can keep up with 3 drug addictions” Dave said, surprised with how nonchalant this discussion was. I guess they both understand there wasn’t much John could do about it. 

“You know the phrase ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’?” John asked rhetorically “Well, Kurloz Makara must’ve found a secret grove of those bastards because he acts like he has money to spare, and then some.” 

“God, I wish I was that rich.” 

“Yeah, me too” John rolled his eyes “but, really, I think you’d like him if you actually got to be around him when he wasn't putting on a show.” 

“I’ll probably get the opportunity” Dave said aimlessly, only aware how it sounded once it left his mouth. “If I don’t completely ruin tonight, that is.” 

“You’re doing pretty okay so far” John smiled, with that same energy Dave was confused by before. He swore if he kept blushing, he was gonna get lightheaded. “Honestly though, I think I could spend the rest of my life with him” John admitted in a moment of softness, Dave smiling although he felt a little jealous. He needed to work on that. 

“When’s the wedding?” Dave teased, leaning over to take his plate and stack them all together. He grumpily shook his head at Dirks plate before adding it to the pile. 

“Oh her her,” John stuck out his teeth obnoxiously “Actually, we aren’t together right now…” 

“You aren’t?” Dave said almost too quickly, standing for the second time to go to the kitchen. 

“Don’t get your hopes up, we’ll be fine by tomorrow” John smiled still. “We needed a second to be ‘unofficial’” He airquoted. 

Dave could hear the joking inflection, but looking at him he could tell it seriously bothered him. He pushed his tongue against his cheek, and he shook his head as he looked down. John had put his knees up against the table, leaning back on the kitchen chair and balancing, so deep in thought his eyes looked glassy. He wondered if John had anyone to talk to about any of his issues, especially since he seemed so bottled up. 

“Aw shit, do you guys do that often? You can come stay here if you need to-“ 

“No, I’m fine” John deflected “We still sleep in the same bed and share the same car, it’s not as serious as it sounds. Kurloz is just dramatic…” 

“You know, you don’t gotta be trapped there when he’s mad at you” Dave pushed, lazily tossing the dishes into the dishwasher much like his lazy son. 

“I’m not trapped, I can leave whenever I want” John sounded almost offended, turning to look at Dave, who had thrown up his hands defensively. John’s expression cooled, and he even smiled again. “But, thanks for the concern. Honestly, I think If I leave he won’t let me come back.” 

That didn’t sit right with Dave, and he frowned. 

“But, bluhh” John stuck out his tongue “I didn’t come over to be a big ol’ baby.” 

“What did you come over for then?”

“To drink,” John said with a cheeky smile. 

And drink they did. Dave didn’t even remember when they left the table, talking a while more before they were up and dancing around the kitchen. They slowly bled into the living room, Dave being twirled around like a ballerina while John refused to get off the coffee table. Dave forced John to watch his own stand up after learning he hated doing it, learning that John often did not refrain from laughing on stage at his own jokes, claiming it was ‘his thing’. He covered his face in shame, laughing from second hand embarrassment about just how much he made jokes about his race. Dave played embarrassing interviews for John, defending his horrible people skills. It took a 30 minute search for John to find his appearance on SNL, that Dave severely didn't believe him about. They got closer and closer on the couch until a drunk argument got them all over each other, John pretending to beat his face in with the beer bottle, laying over him as he insisted that would make a great death scene for his next babysitter murder movie. 

“You know what you really won’t believe” John bit his bottom lip with a grin, looking up at Dave from where he laid his head over his legs. 

“What could possibly beat the joy I just felt seeing you in a blonde wig fake sucking off Jared Springer?” 

“Gimme” John grabbed for the remote, reaching up a hand to push Dave’s face aggressively so he wasn’t looking at the tv. Dave laughed, not putting up much of a fight to remove the soft touch. He did a pretty good job at not looking at the tv, more interesting in looking at John's impeccable side profile. “Okay look-“ 

Dave was free to look at the screen, surprised to see Vriska's music was pulled up. He clicked the music video to a song Dave had never heard before, and the time stamp was old. This was some of her earlier stuff, like 2009 early, and it had that same ear nausea sound that most of Jeffree Star or Ayesha Erotic’s music had. It slowly zoomed out, a split screen of Vriska and… John in the video? They were both in blinding pink bedrooms and it made his eyes hurt, but he was completely taken aback as John started to sing. They were talking over cord phones, Vriska pretending to write in a diary. It was the same shit as her other music, talking about sucking dick and having lots of money, but seeing John in a skimpy pink nightgown awoke something inside of him. 

“What the fuck is this” he laughed in disbelief, John covering his face and kicking his legs. 

“This isn't even the only song I’m in!” 

“Vriska hates you dude, how did you end up in her music videos?” Dave asked, dumbfounded. 

“She had to start hating me for a reason, dude” John sat up, Dave frowning a little “She used to be my best friend in college, dude, and then she cut me off once I started doing comedy.” 

“Woah” Dave looked back at the tv, blushing and covering his eyes as he saw way too much of Vriska's ass. “I think i’ve had enough” 

“Yeah, her old stuff was Ran-Chay” John joked, handing the remote back to Dave. 

“You looked pretty cute in that dress though” Dave teased, leaning forward and pinching John's sides, jumping around all over him to make him laugh. His face lit up in fear, a huge smile crossing his face as he started to push him away, laughing and kicking to escape. Dave chased him across the couch, John grabbing his wrists to stop him and looking up at Dave. 

When did John end up on his back, and when did Dave end up over him? Had this happened just now, or had they been like this for some time? John let out a few more passing giggles, clearing his system before laying his head back on the arm rest. Dave’s thumbs rubbed over John's stomach, and he could feel the pudge around his waist which fit perfectly in the crook of his thumb. The silence wasn’t that awkward as he looked down at him, John leaning forward and lip syncing the song that Dave had hardly noticed was still playing. It was funny, and Dave didn’t know why he closed the distance. 

Kissing him felt like highschool again, his mouth incredibly warm. If Dave’s mouth didn’t taste like a brewery, John's mouth would taste like straight, gross, beer. The kiss went on way longer than it should’ve, Dave reeling away suddenly and sitting up. 

John's eyes shot open in confusion, lips still parted as he propped himself up. His own look of embarrassment made his lips snap shut, pulling his legs closer to himself. “I’m sorry-“ 

“I kissed you! Don’t apologize” Dave stopped him, putting out a hand. 

“Sorry...um” John looked around nervously, smiling “We’ve probably been drinking way too much” 

“What time is it?” Dave looked around suddenly, trying to find his phone. John had his in his pocket, pulling it out and sitting up fully. He dragged down his notifications and nibbled on his lip. 

“Shit…” he mumbled. 

“What?” Dave asked, leaning over to look at his phone. It was a series of missed calls, a spam of texts, and a few twitter notifications. A huge nervous feeling overwhelmed him, and that anxiety made him feel like a teenager again. That feeling when your mom blows up your silent phone and threatens to come pick you up, or ground you, and you have to call her and find out why. He felt more nervous then John looked. 

“Kurloz is being such a dick right now,” John lost his happy go lucky demeanor, standing up and scrolling quickly across his phone. 

“Do you need a ride home?” Dave asked

“No, he’s gonna send someone to get me…” 

“Hey, is everything actually okay with you guys-“ 

“Yeah, it’s nothing, it’s my fault” 

Dave stared at him in confusion, scrunching his eyebrows. John typed quickly, and it was weird to see him so straight faced. He was strung up, and he started to walk towards the elevator. Dave turned to watch him, but John stopped and faced him, almost as if he was waiting. 

He stood, walking to meet him, John pushing his shoes back on. It was almost 10, which wasn’t incredibly late for Dave, but he wouldn’t push for John to hang out for much longer; It didn’t seem like John had a choice. 

“What, do you have a curfew?” Dave tried to play with him, but John had an unwavering nervous expression. 

“No, um” John clicked off his phone and tucked into his back pocket, scratching his head “Kurloz doesn’t actually know where i am, or well, he didn’t.” 

“What? Dude…” 

“I know! I know” John stopped him''I know that’s unfair of me and It makes us look bad but, man, he won’t let me go anywhere! He literally won’t let me see anybody he doesn’t know well.” 

“How old are you?” 

“My fucking point exactly.” John shook his head, rubbing his nose. “You know, I was thinking about this when I saw Vriska, I haven’t had a friend independent of him since, like, I was in those music videos.”

Dave frowned, letting him talk. 

“Actually, I haven’t seen anyone independent of him unless it was fans at a goddamn meet and greet since I moved in with him, i’m not even allowed to run my own arrends” John ranted, using so much body language it was distracting. “I can’t drive my own car, I can’t get my own groceries, I can’t make my own plans,” 

“John that’s not normal-“ 

The pager beeped as the receptionists voice echoed through the apartment “Mr.Strider, someone is here to pick up your comp-” Dave quickly clicked the button, looking back at Dirks cracked bedroom door to make sure he wasn’t stirring. He wished that goddamn thing had a volume button. “Yeah, okay, he’s coming down right now.” 

John took in a sharp breath, smacking the button harder than necessary and stepping into the elevator. Dave offered to go down with him, but was ultimately refused. He mustered a smile for Dave, leaning from the elevator to give him a hug. It was tight, and lingered for a long time, but ultimately broke. He pushed the ground floor button, putting a hand on the door so it didn’t close. 

“I’m sorry about this, I’ll make it up for you” He promised “thank you for having me, and cooking for me, it was fun regardless…” 

“I think so too” Dave smirked, ruffling his hair “Let me know when you get home safe, okay?” 

“He’s not gonna kill me, Dave” John rolled his eyes but smiled cheekily “but I will…” 

“Hey, count those blessings” Dave pointed at him, John making a ‘pffft’ noise and waving nonchalantly at him. 

“Goodnight, Dave” 

“Night, John” 

He moved his hand and let the elevator close, beeping as it descended the building. Dave backed up and watched the numbers blink until it hit the ground floor, nibbling on his lip nervously before turning away. He started by turning off the music that was still playing, surprised they were able to keep it quiet, tossing the remote against the couch. He wiped the table and tossed all the bottles, surprised he wasn’t tipsy. 

Dave moved to the giant windows of his walls, looking out over the front of the building, and made it just in time for a car to go speeding away from the complex. He wondered if John would be okay… if he was okay. Personally, he learned a long time ago that taking that shit gets you nowhere, but he wasn’t the boss of John. 

Still, he found himself relishing in the night, thinking about the perfect glow that bounced off John's face. He was made for the spotlight with highlights like that. Dave avoided thinking about that kiss, completely embarrassed by it, and he hoped it didn’t come up in conversation anytime soon. He shut off all the lights, letting the city wash into the penthouse, still illuminating the floor. He crept into the hallway, slowly pushing open Dirks door to check on him. His noise machine was whirring, and his tv was still on, flashing colors all over his sleeping face. Dave walked in, quietly taking the switch from tucked next to his face and sliding it on his dresser, pulling the blanket over his chest. Dave looked down at the foot of his bed, the horrifying puppet always giving him the chills. 

When he looked back, a pair of big hazel eyes was looking back at him. He sighed, reaching to rub Dirk's forehead, sitting down as the boy sat up. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up, kiddo” 

“You didn’t wake me up, I wasn’t asleep yet.” 

“Okay, then get to sleep” Dave annunciated, Dirk smiling and reaching to take a drink of the half drank water bottle next to his bed. It was the fancy one from Jakes house, and Dirk took little drinks. 

Dave waited for his son to get comfortable again, snuggling into his bed and recovering up. He protested as Dave tried to tuck him in, but took no action to stop it. He kissed his cheek, flicking off his tv and going back to the door, turning again as Dirk called to him. 

“Is John your boyfriend?” 

“No, John is just a friend” Dave reassured him, turning again before being stopped for a second time. 

“You know, having friends is fine, but I really don’t want you to have a boyfriend” Dirk was blunt, as usual. 

“Don’t worry, kid, I don’t really plan on getting one.” 

He could hardly see Dirk. It was so dark, but he watched him turn away, curling up, as he shut the door. Dave sighed, dragging his feet to his bedroom and falling into his bed face first. He took in a deep breath, trying to chill his all-night-coming anxiety attack. He had convinced himself he was way too old to be having these things. 

Dave turned over, putting a hand on his stomach, eyes closing as he started to doze off. He was brought back to the realm of the living as a loud vibration rattled his night stand, reflexively sitting up.

Standing, noticing the light was still on, he turned his phone over so it would turn on for him. John had texted him, and fuck it already been 45 minutes, and it read: 

“He didn’t kill me. Yet ;) ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback welcome!


	3. Pool Party in Cali

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John invites Dave to another party: This time at the Kurloz residence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was grueling to write LMAO 
> 
> it got deleted twice, both times when I was near finishing, but we persevered! I’m sorry if the execution seemed rushed and it was all over the place, this is way out of my comfort zone!  
> Still, i’m very excited for this fic and I hope you are too, Enjoy!!

It was a week before Dave heard from John again.

At first, he didn’t put much thought into it. This isn't highschool, it was an adult ritual to talk every blue moon. But once the week had passed, his nerves got the best of him. Had he actually managed to piss Kurloz off, or even John, to the point of being cut off. You'd think John would at least let him know about it. 

But, he had bigger things to worry about, even though John would be preferably higher. Dirk has plans to go to Jake’s tonight, but they were both waiting on an answer from his grandfather. Dave only thought it was a little funny that Jake had to get proper permission from his guardian, but Dirk simply told Dave what was up. In a way, Dave preferred this, but he would probably spend way less money on take out food if he was prepared for Jake in advance. 

Grandpa very rarely refused Dirk, and if he didn’t want him over, he was always willing to drop Jake off at their apartment. Dave didn’t care either way, but he did like not having to wake up at 7am to bring Jake home after hardly getting 5 hours of sleep because they were up being rowdy all night. They were kids, it was probably good for them or whatever. 

“His grandpa takes forever! He asked me to come over at like, noon, and it’s almost 5” Dirk frowned, chin resting on the dining table with his arms stretched out in front of him, feet sticking straight out and propped on the adjacent chair. 

“Patience, young padawan, he’s probably still working” Dave teased, standing over him and pushing back his hair, Dirk sticking out his tongue and closing his eyes. 

“It’s still annoying, like, at least I don’t have to be home super early the next morning or anything” Dirk glanced up awkwardly, and it looked straining. 

“Yeah, trust me, I don’t want you out and about every second of the day, but Jake has such a strange curfew” Dave agreed, scratching Dirk like a cat. 

Dirk clicked off his phone, setting it face down against the table but kept his hand around it. Dave loved when Dirk talked with him so casually, not that it bothered him, but his years of sloppy parenting must’ve worked out. He didn’t say shit to his bro before he died, and opening up to fosters got him rehomed. He was sure Dirk kept things from him, as all teenagers do, but it was nice to imagine he was sharing his deepest thoughts with him. 

Dave’s phone surprised them both as it went off against the table, vibrating so hard it moved itself comically. Dirk lifted his head, pulling his arms into a cross and laying back on them, Dave pulling his phone off the table to see who might be calling. 

He had hoped it would be Vriska. He had come to terms with the idea that she was probably going through some sort of manic episode right now and had skipped town for a few days. It wasn’t unusual for her to do that, and when he went around her apartment and her car was gone, it was the only logical answer. 

It wasn’t Vriska, though, instead it was the bright blue background and drunk selfie contact photo lighting up his screen. It was John. His heart skipped a beat, he was so excited that John wasn’t ignoring him, and a call or text seemed well overdo. 

“Who’s it?” Dirk asked, mouth pressed into the crook of his arm. “Vriska?” 

“No, John” Dave answered, getting an uninterested glance from his son. So judgmental. 

Dave slid to answer, pulling his fingers from Dirk's hair, grabbing his attention enough for him to sit up. He was probably just being nosey, because he was always being nosey, but his curious expression was cute. 

“Hey” Dave answered 

“Dave! You answer so goddamn fast, did you know that? It’s insane” John was talking fast, and suddenly the noises behind him faded away with the obvious sliding of a glass door. It suctioned shut and now all he could hear was John. 

“I always have my phone in my hand, what’s up?” 

“Are you and Dirk doing anything” he asked, mumbling incoherently to someone on the other end. 

“Me and Dirk? He might be going to a friend's place, but I’m not sure yet, why?” he knew he was about to be invited to something, and he was wondering if John only made phone calls to plan dates. Not that what they did was dates, but it was the same process. 

John argued quietly with someone on the other end for a second, Dave only able to pull out vague noises and words that didn’t make sentences. 

“Sorry- yeah! You're free? Do you wanna come over to my place, Kurloz is having a little party and said I should invite you two” John claimed, much to Dave’s disbelief. “You can come whenever”

“Wait, he invited us? That’s hard to believe” He spoke honestly “I’m surprised he doesn’t hate me.” 

“Uh, yeah, me too!” John laughed “but I’ve learned not to question him, are you coming?” 

“Yeah I can come, when?” 

“Whenever!” 

“Okay, give me like… an hour” Dave requested, John happily giving him the okay. “Alright, I’ll be there soon, by-“

“Bye!” John beat him again, hanging up the phone. 

Dave pulled it away and slid up on his notifications to clear them out. He was actually pretty excited, and he loved the feeling John put in his stomach. His sweet voice was enough to probably convince Dave to go anywhere, even parties that were definitely going to be awkward. 

“You wanna go to a party?”

“I dunno, I wanna go to Jake's,” He said, very clearly uninterested. Dave was not gonna suffer alone, though. 

“Well if we leave now, we can hang out until Jake answers you, and then I have an excuse to leave” Dave did ironic jazz hands, making Dirk smile. 

“You can’t just use me to get out of the things you don’t wanna do, just don’t go”

“What do you think I agreed to take you for? Children are the earth's natural scapegoat. Sucks to suck, little man” Dave ruffled his hair, Dirk pushing away from the table and standing up. 

“Whatever, are we actually leaving now?” Dirk asked 

“Yeah, go get ready.” 

Dave wasted no time at home, going to his room to change, Dirk taking his midday meds, and they were down the elevator. On their way down, he saw the familiar face of the receptionist smiling at him, so he decided to stop and talk to her. She was a delightful older woman, and she always lit up when she saw him. “David! Mr.Dirk, Where are you going today?” 

“Party” Dave answered simply, leaning over the counter and looking at her things. It was sweetly decorated with plants and lots of photos of her grandchildren. 

“Don’t you hate parties?” She cocked her eyebrow

“I don’t hate the person who invited me,” he answered with a wink, getting her to laugh loudly. Dave loved a big laugh, and hers was especially fun. Dirk stuck out his tongue, not as delighted by the joke. Which was fair, it was weird when your parents made flirty jokes. 

“Oh Dave, you naughty boy” she smiled, looking behind her at the woman Dave had only just noticed, bending over and ruffling through a box of papers. 

Dave had never met this girl, but from the looks of it, she was young, and she perked up as she was waved over, the receptionist introducing him. The girl looked pale in the face as she realized who he was, waving like she was in a trance. 

“I’m training her right now, she’s learning who lives where and who to let up, all the boring stuff” She explains, the girl blushing. 

“It’s not that boring to me” He chuckled

“She’s gonna be alone tonight, her first time!” 

“I’m sure she’ll do great” Dave smiled. 

The girl nervously agreed, hiding her face and getting back to her search, the receptionist rolling her eyes. The thrill of working for celebrities had long left her, and that girl would soon get over it.

Dirk pulled on him lowkey, not able to stay still. 

“Okay, I do have to go” Dave bid her a farewell, waving at the new girl, but shaking his keys as he left. 

He didn’t ask for Kurloz’s address, but one google search was all he needed. Though people made it hard for him to forget, reminding himself that he spent most of his time with millionaires was hard. Dave never imagined he’d get to visit someone that was so rich their home could be looked up by name on google.

His eyes almost popped out of his face when he realized how far out of town he lived. Dave used to live in San Jose and he got out of there as quickly as possible, especially once Dirk got a little older. Even when he was at the rise of his career, and money was anything but scarce, he could hardly afford to live there with Vriska, and it wasn’t the most friendly place either. If you weren’t famous, you were peeping into famous peoples windows, and the last thing Dave needed was someone snapping pictures of him pissing. 

But for someone like Kurloz, San Jose must be pocket change. Dave didn’t actually know what the Makara’s did, or owned, or what they were in, but the shit they smoked and the way they lived explained enough. He was sure he’d learn tonight, anyways. 

Dirk put his feet back on that goddamn dash, his flip flops too big for him. Dave was a skinny kid, incredibly so, but he had no idea why Dirk was still so tiny. He was lanky and short, and he wished he knew where it came from. It couldn’t be from the few days he was alone as a baby, because his growth wasn’t stunted, and he was very well taken care of now. He had always been small though, and Dave didn’t know his family well enough to say it didn’t run in it. 

The drive was almost familiar as he left town, taking the same roads he did when he was moving his stuff back and forth. He worried about being at Kurloz’s house. Being around his family, being around him when John was there, being in the house at all. It was all so unfamiliar and nerve wracking that as every minute passed he contemplated making up an excuse, calling John to cancel, and turning around to go home. 

But, he ran out of time to change his mind. His GPS read allowed the address, letting him know it was to his right, and Dave pulled into the beginning stretch of the longest driveway he had ever seen. He thought Terezi lived somewhere insane? That was poverty compared to the house that stood before him. He pulled up the driveway and stopped at the large golden gates, shit was like Heaven, a guard in a booth asking him what his business was. Dave told him they had been invited, but the guard seemed unconvinced. 

That was until John came down the driveway barefoot on the other side of the gate, waving at Dave and stepping up the stairs to the door of the booth. The door was opened and John poked his pretty little head in, pointing at Dave and talking to the guard inaudibly. The man nodded, laughing and talking with John as he lazily punched in some code, the gates clicking as they opened. What kinda Disney World shit was this. 

Dave pulled past the gates but stopped, John running around the back of his car and going the long way to sit behind his passenger seat, climbing into the car. He slid to the middle seat, leaning against the back of the front seats to look at them. 

“Hey! Oh my god, dude, I was so ready for you guys to come!” John laughed, pulling his knees up and not bothering to put his seatbelt on. “Just drive straight I’ll tell you where to park!” 

Dave listened, starting to drive. “You didn’t tell me Kurloz was the fucking Queen of England, dude, what is this place?” 

“I know right! Like what the fuck” John laughed, covering his mouth cuddenly in embarrassment that he swore infront of a teenager. Dave shrugged it off, which relaxed him. John propped himself up on Daves seat, looking out the front window “It’s like a… 15 million dollar home?” 

“Dude, how did you just say that Casually? I don’t think I’ve even made that much money” Dave was flabbergasted, following the curve on the driveway as he suddenly came to the home, pulling past the area the party was being held in. It was an outside patio area, loud music playing, and one of the coolest pools he’d ever seen. It was big, and the hot tub was built in, the patio shaded but not closed in. 

Dirk widened his eyes, but he was too physically uncomfortable to express how he felt. Dave felt bad, but he knew he would loosen up in no time. 

John was right, this wasn’t a big party. There were like, 7 people in the pool, some in the hot tub, and some guys drinking on the patio chairs, but it couldn’t be more than 30 people. It wasn’t what he was expecting, to say the least, but it calmed his nerves. 

“Shit, I didn’t tell you we were swimming” John cursed, snapping his fingers cutely. “I’ll find you something, you can probably fit in my stuff, Dirk too!”

“Not with my fat ass, but you could tie Dirk into anything ” Dave joked, turning off his car and getting out with John, who excitedly grabbed his hand and pulled him over the poolside, everyone stopping to pay attention to him as he ran over. Dave pushed Dirk along, who was clutching his phone tightly in his hand, stumbling to keep up with John's fast pace. The boy from the party, Kurloz’s oldest son, Kurloz jr, was in the pool with a girl on his shoulders. There was an older woman, sitting on the steps with a drink in her hands, and an older man holding up a young girl in the deep end as she wildly swung her arms around and tried to swim. Looking over, three men sat on the patio couches, two of them being big men that Dave had never seen before, and the middle being one that Dave wished he had never seen before, Kurloz. 

There was a group of people John obviously cared about more, ignoring the people in the hot tub, and a few on the edge of the pool. 

John let go of him, waving him to follow and approaching the woman on the steps, who familiarly greeted John in spanish. 

“Ahí estás, niño!” She smiled, using the side of the pool to help her to her feet, dripping wet as she left the pool to hug him, much to his distaste. “Who’s this?” 

“This is Dave, everyone, this is Dave,” John said happily, now soaking wet, the teenage girl once riding Kurloz’s shoulders had gotten off, swimming to the edge of the pool to wave at him. “Oh! and this is Dave’s son, Dirk,” he added, the spanish speaking woman perking up “Dave this is Maria, and this is her daughter Meulin! That is Seung, Maria’s husband, and that is their daughter Nepeta” 

Dave took in all the information at once, saying individual hellos as they all greeted him. He did notice, as the name rolled comfortably in John's mouth, that Seung must be korean, and he had never met a mixed hispanic-korean child before. He had learned they were adorable, the young girl frantically trying to get his attention being unbelievably adorable. 

“Hi Dave! Hi Dirk!” she repeated, her father laughing as he tried to keep her chaotic wiggling form afloat. 

“Hi Nepeta, are you learning to swim?” Dave responded in that tone you use on children, but not in the condescending way. His voice simply softened, and she giggled and hid against her father shyly. John drew his attention back to Maria, and Dave was not complaining. She was unbelievably beautiful, a mature face and full body, with some of the most pleasing boobs he had ever seen. Her bikini was flattering and he couldn’t pick a better example of a milf off the top of his head. She had long, thick, black hair that she had tried to tie into a loose ponytail, the water weighing it down. John took a sip of her drink and she laughed, looking over at Dave when she remembered his company. “It’s great to meet you.” 

“Oh, you too baby, how do you know Johnny?” she smiled, leaning back and resting beautifully. 

“We went to highschool together, he was my best friend“ Dave started, Maria putting a hand on her heart.

“How agradable” she cooed, Dave blushing. 

“Sí, I didn’t even que fue famoso.” Dave laughed, Maria shocked but pleased as he spoke to her. 

“You hablas español?” she chuckled, elbowing John with a wink, getting a roll of his eyes “John can certainly puede elegir un hombre encantador!” 

“Encantador? I don’t like the way that sounds” John joked, Dave and Maria enjoying a moment of mutual laughter, only stopping as Maria’s attention was pulled away from him. Looking down, Dave followed suit, the girl from the shoulders was looking up at him. 

“This is my daughter, she’s deaf” Maria explained, Kurloz swimming up behind her and grabbing her waist, but she floated comfortably. “You make the movies right? because she loves them.” 

“I do make those movies! I’m glad you like them” Dave spoke, instantly embarrassed. Of course he tried to talk to the deaf girl, but to his surprise, she processed for a moment, smiling and nodding affirmatively. Dave came back to it, pulling Dirk from his hip to present him. 

“This” he said with a struggle, as Dirk clung to him “Is my son! His name is Dirk, like John said.” 

“Aw, eres tímido?” Maria cooed “You remind me of mis muchachos!”

“Gracias” Dirk mumbled, continuing to press himself into Dave as he avoided eye contact. 

Dave brushed off his anxiety as John told them he was gonna carry on with introductions, the family getting back to their pool party. Dirk groaned uncomfortably, and Dave thought of anything he could say as a valid excuse to avoid Kurloz for Dirk's sake, but he couldn’t. 

He was pulled to the patio, much to his dismay, being put in front of the three most intimidating people he’d ever set his eyes on. John still stood comfortably, which eased Dave only a little. 

“Dave, this is Cronus and Horuss, likewise” he introduced. Cronus was a black man, an unbelievably handsome one at that, smoking a cigarette as he smiled at Dave, filling his stomach with the heebie jeebies. Horuss was a Native man, and his gentle wave and smile put Dave much more at ease.

Next to Horuss was a small boy, maybe around the age of Nepeta, who was most certainly his son. He had long black hair that stuck to his cheeks, and he was snoring quietly as he rested against his dad, snuggled up in a towel presumably after a tiring round of swimming. The big man was affectionately rubbing his head, using his foot to rock the seat softly. 

Kurloz was in the middle, staring Dave dead in his eyes as he seemed to always do. But, today, his energy was completely different, and so was his attitude. He was smiling, tapping the ash off his blunt and setting it on the armrest of the chair, standing without a noise. “Dave, I’m glad you came.” 

“Thank you for… inviting me” Dave spoke nervously, trying his best not to embarrass himself. Dave had never been a man's man, he had never been the epitome of the perfect american guy, but he had never been docile or submissive either. However, something about the way Kurloz carried himself, the way he spoke, the way he initiated every action almost made Dave want to let him lead, made Dave feel very vulnerable. He was happy to wait for Kurloz to stand and approach John, who looked so small next to the big man, which made Dave feel small, before saying anything else. 

“I feel like we started off on the wrong foot, I feel like this was the perfect way to start over” He smiled, and it was welcoming. He almost wanted to forgive him, he even wanted to apologize, but he couldn’t think of what for. “I just hate big parties, and I can get a little jealous, so I apologize.”

“It’s fine! Really, not a big deal. I hate parties too” Dave instantly accepted his apology: anything to get this anxiety off his mind. It was nice to feel a little more welcomed by Kurloz. 

The big man's eyes quickly darted down to Dave’s side, and the fist around his jeans got tighter, Dirk hiding his face. He was told a lot by doctors and behavioral therapists that Dirk would grow out to the clingy shy phase before he was 8, but now he was 12 and he still desperately held on to him like a baby. He probably had mostly himself to blame, because he never discouraged it. 

“Oh, well, this must be your son. How rude of me to ignore him” Kurloz changed completely for a second time, his voice so soft and gentle, so much so it was almost unrecognizable as himself. He didn’t apply a baby voice, or talk down to him, but his entire demeanor had just changed in a few seconds. 

“Yup, this is Dirk” Dave felt like he had said that a thousand times today “He’s… so shy.” 

“It’s okay, my Gamzee was shy too” Kurloz related to him, and Dave felt very at home with this version of himself. He forgot Kurloz was a dad. “Dirk, how are you?” 

“Fine” Dirk answered flatly, almost disappearing behind Dave, shuffling on his feet. “I like your house…” 

“Well, thanks, Did you bring anything to swim in?” 

“No, I forgot to tell them!” John chuckled, but Kurloz’s eyes stayed on Dirk, who was clenching his fists into white knuckles. 

John looked pretty happy, and honestly, that’s all that mattered to Dave. Kurloz put a hand on Dave’s shoulder and he melted right into it, the large firm hand comforting, almost in a childlike way. John didn’t talk to Kurloz like how he talked to Dave, but did anyone talk to their partner the way they did their friends? He wasn’t sure it was right to question it anymore, apparently since Kurloz was just as nice as he was talked up to be. John perked up, reminding himself about Dave and Dirk needing swimsuits. Kurloz looked him up and down, making Dave’s stomach pool. Kurloz offered his oldest son’s clothes, saying he’d fit those the best. John pulled Dave along, Kurloz removing his hand and comfortably sitting back down, smiling at John the entire way inside. 

“Dirk, man, you need to work on those people skills” Dave poked fun at him, but even though he had parted from him, his anxious face spoke a thousand words. 

“He just met a bunch of new people, cut him  
some slack!” John said, rubbing his wet feet into the mat at the door, Dave quickly taking off his shoes. This place was insane, go figure, with tall ceilings and pillars, the first room in the house being a kitchen. The house lost a few points with how white it was, its modern design not saving it from a closed floor plan. As they passed by a dining table, Dave noticed Gamzee was working on something. 

He perked up, smiling at the three of them. “Hey, John, do you know how to do this?” He asked before John hit the stairs, the comedian backtracking to the table and Dave followed. He leaned over to look at the paper, a confused look on his face. 

“Yeah, I’m no good at Math” John shrugged “You're on your own this time, sorry.” 

“Can I see?” Dirk asked, Dave surprised by his volume, Gamzee looking up a little embarrassed, but he pushed the paper out so Dirk could read it. “Do you know how to find a percentage?” 

Gamzee shook his head, Dirk grabbing for his pencil. He awkwardly scribbled on the paper for a second before he remembered that it wasn’t his work, and he had to teach Gamzee. He had always had a weird talent for math, even if he hated doing it in school. 

He showed it to Gamzee, then showed him another example, and then asked Gamzee to do one alone. He did, Dave giving him a celebratory “fuck yeah!” as he got it right. Gamzee smiled, thanking Dirk. John shook his head with a smile, starting his trek up the stairs. “Where did he get all that brain from?” 

“His mom, I guess” Dave chuckled, Gamzee pointing at the triangle on his paper. 

“Wait, so how do I do the next part?” He questioned, getting that fed up look back on his face. 

“I can show you…” Dirk offered again, regaining that comfortable inflection in his voice that Dave was used to. It was sweet, and it was nice to see Dirk interacting with other people besides his two regulars. 

John left them to it, going to grab the swimsuits alone so Dave could watch Dirk help Gamzee. It only took a few problems to get Gamzee rolling, and he was pumping them out one after another, Dirk only having to help a little here and there. Gamzee would probably thrive with a proper tutor, it wasn’t like they couldn’t afford it. 

“Why do you have homework in June, dude?” Dave asked, Dirk labeling which side was what. 

“Summer school” Gamzee rolled his eyes, biting his lip “I think this shit should be illegal.” 

It was weird to look at this teenager, who he had seen drinking and smoking, struggling with math homework. Dave knew plenty of kids like Gamzee in his highschool days, but talking to one in his adult life was like a culture shock. He was only a teenager after all, he probably shouldn’t be allowed to do the things he does. The kids Dave knew often did it without their parents' knowledge, but Gamzee got everything he needed from his own father. It wasn’t Dave’s favorite style of parenting, but at least if Gamzee was gonna do it, he was doing it with someone who cared about his well being. He wasn’t sure he would be the best influence on his son, though. 

“I know it looks hard, but with a lot of patience it starts feeling like nothing” Dirk promised, Gamzee twisting his tongue piercing around with his teeth, finishing the last problem with a sigh.

“Thanks for the help” Gamzee smiled, pushing back his thick curly hair, which was in his face. 

“Yeah” Dirk mumbled, back in his shy state, Gamzee putting down his pencil and looking at the stairs before leaning closer to Dave. 

“I’ve been asking my dad to get a motherfucker to help for months, but he’s such a control freak, he won’t let anyone in the house he doesn’t trust, or like, it’s so stupid.” Gamzee scoffed, Dave furrowing his brow. 

“Nobody?” 

“Yeah, I’m surprised John is allowed to have you over, honestly” He said, Dave listening “My dad must really like you or something. I’ve never seen John bring anyone over.” 

“I don’t think John has had a friend to bring over in a long time, but I didn't think it was, like, a thing?” 

“It’s just weird, because John is only allowed to be friends with people my dad says he can, and that never happens” Gamzee was probably being way more honest then he should be, but Dave was digging the info, and was getting a little unsettled by it. “Or like, he can only be friends with my dad's friends” 

“Really?” Dave played along, taking his own glances at the stairs to make sure John wasn’t coming down, him and Dirk both sharing a nervous look. His kid probably didn’t need to know about this, but Dave knew if Dirk wasn’t here, he’d probably end up telling him later. 

“Yeah, like Terezi, but she does whatever we say so it’s not like it matters” He said almost bitterly, picking up his pencil to doodle on his paper. “He doesn’t like random people in his business, or around his kids, so I guess it makes sense.” 

“It’s just that John told me he invited a bunch of people to live here, like the people in his pool?” Dave prodded, Gamzee getting obviously nervous by this question. 

“Mr. Ampora? Or the Zahhak’s? I think Damara is out there…” Gamzee leaned forward on the table and tried to look outside, but with no luck. 

“Ah no, um, her name was Maria? and her family” Dave asked, assuming the men he met belonged to the names Ampora and Zahhak, but he had no idea who Damara was. 

“Oh, uh, the Vantas’? They are good family friends, Kurloz is dating their daughter, so my dad let them live here…” 

“All of them? Just… cause?” 

“Yup.” Gamzee almost cut him off with how quick he answered. “They needed somewhere to live in California, Nepeta was still a baby, and my dad is such a foster, he takes in anybody.” 

“Oh, that just seems a little backwards” Dave tried to behave obliviously, Gamzee obviously keeping something from him. He didn’t know what, or why, but his story was missing a piece. Maybe Maria was secretly their mother, or Nepeta was Kurloz’s! That idea got him excited, but her physical appearance gave away who her father was. It was fun to fantasize nonetheless about whatever trivial thing Gamzee couldn’t tell him about. After all, how bad could it be? 

They both stopped talking as John took heavy steps down the stairs, putting a hand on the end of the rail and swinging around on it to boost himself in their direction. John gave Dave both pairs of swim trunks, which he accepted. He and Dirk were pointed out a bathroom, but Dirk had never been all that comfortable changing in front of anyone, not even Dave, so he let him go first. This house smelled like rich people, and Dave took the opportunity to look around a little, just in the immediate vicinity of the bathroom. 

It was towards the back of the first floor, and none of the lights were on back here. It was the only area in the house without an absurd amount of windows, and as he rounded the corner, still in the eyeshot of the bathroom, he realized there was a second staircase. It was small and cramped, going upstairs, where it seemed absolutely no natural light went in at all. It looked almost like nighttime, and he had no idea how small or big it was. It was probably the most inconvenient place for a staircase to be, ever, but he wouldn’t call it creepy. The room he was standing in was open, with a few couches and pool table, a built in bar to the house with a wall of bottles. It was cool, and he ultimately decided that strange upstairs must be used for storage. 

“Dad” he heard call him, and he quickly walked back to the bathroom door. Dirk was looking at him, rubbing his shirt between his fists and putting it over his chest. 

“You can swim in your shirt yaknow?” Dave chuckled, opening the door and stepping inside. 

“It’s the only one I brought, stupid” Dirk snapped back, Dave rolling his eyes dramatically. 

He changed quickly, not wanting Dirk to be standing there alone for too long. He folded up his own clothes, and the pants Dirk had left behind, opening the door to see his son was gone. The fear quickly left him as he walked back out into the house and found him by John, and Gamzee, who was talking with him again. 

John looked at Dave mid laugh and smiled wide “I didn’t know you had so many tattoos!” 

“Yeah, I forget all the time too” Dave looked down at himself, turning around his arm and down to his waist. He was absolutely covered. “I want more.” 

“Get my name tattooed on your forehead!” John joked, making Dave smile. 

“I’ll keep it in mind.” 

John told Gamzee to hurry up, pulling the blonde boys towards the door with him, stepping outside. He drug him past Kurloz and his friends, who sat together unmoved, and straight to the pool. 

Maria had moved to the hot tub with her husband, Nepeta splashing and swimming with the boy who was once asleep, Kurloz jr and Muelin sitting together on the edge. The older teenager was signing lowkey to her, the girl nodding and responding, Kurloz laughing audibly. Dave noticed the other people in the pool, wondering which one was Damara. There was a new boy he hadn’t noticed before, hair slicked back like a greaser, talking to a girl and someone who could possibly be her older sister, or even her mom, but he didn’t get introductions for them. John walked around to the hot tub, Dave following without complaint, Maria and Seung looking up to pay attention to them. 

John started to talk to them, Dave having a second look around, noticing the pattern Gamzee had pointed out to him. Everyone around him lived in the house, as far as Dave was aware, besides the two of them. They were even invited by Kurloz, not even John, which made Dave’s attendance a part of his will as well. That’s so weird the things you notice once they are brought to your attention. 

Dirk would probably want to swim, but he’d be too nervous to do it alone. No one in this pool was even close in age to him, and even the teenagers had to be at least 16. Dirk was able to talk to the older company, but of course he didn’t prefer it. 

He found his eyes traveling back to Kurloz jr, who was still talking with his girlfriend, who was equally as pretty as her mother, if not a little young to be that attractive to Dave personally. He was a punk young thing, with an astonishing amount of piercings up the lobe of his ear, but his gauges weren’t quite as impressive as Gamzees. His hair was longer, and combed into dreads, tied up and off his shoulders. The teens face wasn't spared of the needle: his nose, lips, and eyebrows all pierced in lots of ways Dave didn’t even know could be pierced. His face looked heavy, but Dave dug it, he was cool looking. 

He watched as Dirk started talking to Maria, answering all the questions they had for him. 

“You are so simpático, are you normally rubio?” She asked, leaning over the edge of the hot tub, taking sips of her drink. 

Dirk looked back at Dave nervously, making him smile. “Blonde, rubio means blonde, like your hair” he ran his fingers through his shaggy head and Dirk blushed nervously, just nodding to answer. 

“Still learning?” Her husband asked sweetly, Dirk nodding again, back pressed against Dave. 

“It took our babies so long to learn all 3, Meulin still barely knows any Korean, but it can be harder to learn for her.” Maria explained, pushing her wet hair behind her ear. “How old are you?”

“I’m 12…” 

Anytime Dirk was the center of conversation, Dave felt so cheesy and proud, wanting to show him off like a newborn baby again. He knew Dirk hated it, but Dave couldn’t help it. 

Dave was that kinda dad: The dad who had his son's school picture on a key ring attached to his car keys, the dad who found a way to bring his kid into every conversation. The kind of dad who doted on his child’s skills, and brags about his talent, letting everyone know how wonderful he is. Dave didn’t let a conversation pass without complimenting his son, without gushing about him. He had always craved that as a child, even before his bro died, to have someone care about him. Someone who really cared about him, not just the fat government check stapled to his chest. 

Dave made two life changing decisions in his 20’s. One, never, ever, have children, out of fear of dying and leaving them alone the same way he was, to never risk it. Two, fuck all of that other stuff and make sure Dirk was the most secure, happy, cared for child on the entire planet. Anything to make him feel safe, to feel loved, and to feel protected. 

“12? So sweet…” she frowned “Our niño pequeño, Karkat, died when he was 14, mi ángel.” 

“I’m so sorry” Dave was genuine, Dirk looking up at him. He couldn’t even imagine Dirk getting hurt, let alone dying. It was a horrible thing to even think about.

“When?” Dirk asked, obviously unaware of how to ask it any nicer than that. Dave wouldn't have asked, but Dirk was a little braver. 

“2016… he would be 17” Seung answered, wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulders. “His birthday is this week, his 18th birthday, June 12th.” Dirk stood there awkwardly with him for a few seconds before he asked if he could go swimming. Dave agreed, pushing him by his head and telling him to stay where he could see him. John offered to walk with him and introduce him, but he coldly rejected. They watched him run to the stairs, Dave shaking his head. Maria broke her silence with a smile. “When is your son's birthday?” 

“Oh, it’s kinda funny actually, he was born December 3rd, which is also my birthday.” 

“Realmente? how cute” Maria perked up, a weight seeming to roll off her shoulders. John was even surprised at this fun fact, and it started a string of conversation, moving as far away from dead children as possible. Dave and John finally joined them in the hot tub, putting his arm over the edge so he could glance over every now and again to make sure Dirk hadn’t been under the water for too long. 

Dave learned all about their family, how they moved from Chicago to here, and that they both worked from home. Kurloz’s kids weren’t homeschooled, but Meulin was, to “help with the learning curve”, Seung explained. Nepeta was only 4, but they planned on homeschooling her too. Dave explained that Dirk went to a private school, and it even had a tuition, but he could never homeschool him because of Dirks love for science, all of them sharing a laugh when Dave said he was too shit at science to teach it himself. 

They went on tangent after tangent, starting stories and never finishing them, and talked about anything as time passed. The group constantly jumped between the hot tub and the pool, Maria getting out to put Nepeta to sleep at some point, but coming back in no time, John being an easy person to listen to for hours. 

Dirk would swim to him from time to time to tell him to throw something while Dirk closed his eyes, so he could go and find it. 

Dave missed those days of having a toddler in the house, even though Nepeta was almost an adolescent, she was so dang cute. If Dave was ever gonna have another kid, which was seriously unlikely (unless another long lost sibling of his also abandoned their child and he was the only known link), he would want a daughter. 

As the sun went down, they moved from the pool to patio chairs, laughing and continuously enjoying each other as the kids went inside. Kurloz jr asked to watch a movie with Meulin, and her parents didn’t seem to care about their alone time. They were older teenagers after all, so I guess it didn’t really matter. Kurloz, the big one, and his group eventually joined Dave’s. 

Dirk asked to go to the car to check his phone, which was plugged in, and Dave watched him run over and shut himself inside. He was sure Dirk did actually want to check his phone, but that he also probably wanted some alone time. 

When Kurloz sat down, John got up and moved like a magnet in his direction, sitting with him. Horuss has joined them again, without his son, but Cronus did not  
come back outside once he entered the house. 

The longer they all talked the further the sun went down, the house getting brighter and brighter with all the lights turned on. It was an insane view, any place this expensive would need one, but he felt so comfortable he didn’t really want to leave. Usually he’d be waiting for the sun to set, for any sign of darkness, to use it as an excuse to dip, but tonight was different. 

He never expected to feel so unbothered when he had left the house, especially with Kurloz only half a foot away from him. He was even being kind, which he had expected even less. Dave felt kinda bad for rushing to so many conclusions, mostly completely based on a drunk John's over-exaggerations, fueled by anger, and similarly his own skewed idea of Kurloz. Sure he was grumpy at the party, and yelled at John a week ago, but today he was kind, funny, and welcoming. They really had just started off on the wrong foot, and Dave was prepared to get closer with this family, if only they let him. 

If he was being honest, what Gamzee said made him feel a little special. What did Kurloz see in him? What about him was so different from all the other people he turned away, what had Dave done? It made him feel extremely good, something about Kurloz’s acceptance feeling much better than Johns. 

That didn’t ultimately stop his jealousy, but it made his guilt a thousand times worse. Kurloz obviously struggled with trust, but he opened up his home to Dave so willingly, and he still had the audacity to look at John in the way he did. He let himself get jealous when John would lay against him, or when Kurloz would softly play with his hair, or how close John was to him. He felt terrible about kissing him, and he felt even worse about all the things he had trapped in the secret of his brain. Kurloz seemed to trust him, for reasons Dave couldn’t understand, but even right now he was getting lost in the idea of John's soft hands. He probably owed John better than that, too. To the best of his knowledge Dave was the only friend John had separated from Kurloz in a long time, and he needed that. He seemed to value it a lot, anyways, and Dave still found a way to sexulize everything he did. Yuck.

“Dave, you good?” John whacked him gently on the knee, knocking him from his daydream. Even now he had a crush on him. John was just so dreamy, Dave couldn’t help himself. 

“Yeah, sorry-“ Dave laughed, turning around as his title was said. Dirk walked up to him, closing up once he realized everyone was looking at him. He had his phone in his hand, his hair still damp from the pool. 

“Jake said I can come over” He said, which Dave was expecting. He was shown Dirk's phone regardless, even though he didn’t care to read their messages, seeing it was only 8:30. He could’ve sworn it was much later, but it didn’t matter. 

He looked back at the group, watching Kurloz smile softly, looking right past him and at Dirk. It only made him a little uncomfortable, but he was still trying to get rid of the negative stigma he had around Kurloz. 

“Aw, does that mean you’ve gotta head out?” John frowned, standing, being followed by Maria and Seung’s eyes, working in tandem. 

“Yeah, I gotta get him there before 9” Dave turned around and Dirk was gone, already back in the car. He moved so silently, Dave shaking his head. “Okay, bye Dirk.” 

“He’s very endearing.” Kurloz complimented, and Dave wasn’t sure if it was inappropriate. 

“I don’t think he likes me too much” John admitted 

“It’s not that he doesn’t like you, he treats everyone like  
that. He’s just not a social butterfly. Honestly, he’s very kind, he just doesn’t know how to get close to people unless he’s made it his life mission-“

“I'm surprised he came” Kurloz said, taking a hit and blowing out most of the smoke.“Why did you bring him?” 

“He was waiting for a friend to answer him, so I knew we wouldn’t stay long.” Dave deflected. Kurloz had a strange way of speaking, in the way that no matter what he said it sounded appealing, and incredibly drawing. That was only a little problematic when Dave’s son was the topic of conversation. “We really should get going though.” 

John approached him, Kurloz’s eyes shifting to him. Dave ignored the way his eyes traveled down to his ass, John walking over to Dave and waiting for him to get up. “Here, I'll walk you to your car, let's go.” 

“Aw, Adios Dave! We’ll see you soon?” Maria sat down her drink, cocking her head with a smile.

“For sure” Dave smiled, lifting his hand to wave.

John walked with him quietly back to his car, only talking when they were far enough out of ear shot, and hidden away. It was dark, but the patio light turned on automatically, with the most unflattering lighting ever. Dirk was sitting in the passenger seat, but the roof was over the car, closing him in. He had laid out his towel on the seat so it got less wet, only looking up at Dave for a second before looking back at his phone. 

“Thank you so much for coming, really,” John smiled, putting a hand on Dave’s upper arm. 

“Yeah, anytime” Dave smiles “I love being around you. It’s nice to have a friend again who isn’t my son, or Vriska.” 

“I would probably shoot myself if Vriska was my only friend again” John laughed, looking behind him and then back at Dave. “I think he really was trying super hard tonight, he’s so weird, i’m sorry if he made you uncomfortable.” 

“No! he didn’t, not at all.” Dave asurred “I think we got along pretty well today.”

“I did too! I’m glad you think so” John laughed happily. God, his laugh was perfect. He was perfect. John squeezed his arm, pulling him into a hug. His head fits perfectly against his, snuggling into the crook of his neck. Dave squeezed his shoulders, able to release some tension from himself. God, John felt good. They pulled apart, looking at each other quietly for a few seconds. Could it be maybe John thought about him too? Or was he just obsessed. 

“This house is insane, man, I know Dirk was shy tonight but it was nice to get him out of the house. Especially to such a cool house.” 

“Yeah, now you get why so many people live here! It’s way too big for just the three of them.” John giggled

“I’m surprised he can keep up with that many people, like damn, especially all the kids.” Dave admitted “Like I know the adults work but, still.” 

“It’s pretty incredible.” 

“What does Kurloz do, anyways?” Dave finally asked 

“He owns a fashion company, I think?” John said, clearly unsure of himself. “He’s also in with a bunch of shoe companies, has investments with Morphe, a lot of shit I don’t understand” 

“You seriously don’t know?” Dave laughed, making John smile with rosy cheeks. 

“No! He doesn’t really tell me, he told me it wasn’t interesting” John shrugged 

“And that satisfies you? What if he’s into some shady shit!” Dave whisper shouted, glancing around to make sure they weren’t being spied on, John shoving him playfully “You really don’t question him on anything, huh?” 

“There’s no point! He’s so secretive and if you push him he gets all pissy” John stuck out his tongue, wiggling around his fingers. His expressions were so cute and unique. Dave had yet to watch him deliver stand up, but he just looked so perfect for it. 

It was so nice to just look at him, just being with him was so calming. John had such soft hands, pressed warm against his bare arms, so comfortable to just stare at him. He had thought about it, just this second, about maybe what it would’ve been like if he had never left John in highschool. If he had beat Kurloz to John. Obviously that was in Dave's perfect world where John loved him, where those offhand remarks, those soft drunk moments, those looks at him everytime he made a joke, even meant something. 

“I really missed you” John said quietly, more than before “It feels like… I dunno this sounds so stupid, but, it feels like i’ve been missing you since you left, without even knowing it” 

“It’s weird cause, When I saw you at that party it felt so unreal, like I had completely forgotten about you.” 

“Wow, so flattering” John laughed, his cheeks going red. Dave flushed and tried to correct himself but John threw up his arms dramatically, yelling about how it was no big deal, and he was easily forgotten. They both started laughing, leaning close to each other. 

Their laughter was interrupted by someone calling John's name. No, not someone, Kurloz. John turned around and Dave just looked up, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Come on, John, we’re moving inside.” 

“Oh, shit, okay” John faced Dave with a smile, pushing him by the shoulder gently before taking a few steps backwards back to Kurloz. The sweet shift of his eyes as they disappeared behind the glare of his glasses, John completely looking away as he approached Kurloz. He just noticed he was still smiling, straightening out his face as he opened the car door. 

Dirk looked up at him, obviously sleepy, texting quickly like he always did. He didn’t even need to look at the screen he was so used to typing the words. It was honestly kind of impressive. 

Dave drove forward, following the cul de sac to loop back around, facing forward as he approached the gates again. It was much easier to leave, a scratchy “Have a Goodnight.” coming from the microphone system the guard used. He waved, Dirk putting down his phone and looking outside. 

“I don’t like Kurloz.” He said honestly “He’s weird.” 

“I didn’t like him either, but I like him now,” Dave said, speeding up as they hit the road. Never so fast he’d put Dirk in danger, but there was no need to go 25. Dirk frowned, looking up at Dave as he laid back. 

“I miss Vriska” He grumbled “I don’t like John, either, he’s annoying.” 

“You’re biased,” Dave chuckled, “I don’t know what you're worried about, little man, they aren’t your friends.” 

“Yeah but I still have to see them, at least you like Jake! Plus, you wanna date John I can tell.” Dirk was probably Dave’s harshest critic, brutally honest to a fault sometimes. 

“And you want to date Jake, but I mind my business-“ 

“I don’t wanna date Jake!” Dirk raised his voice, clearly not joking anymore. 

“Woah, baby, chill” Dave hushed, putting out a hand. “What’s your damage, kid?” 

“Nothing” Dirk mumbled, leaning against the car door. 

The rest of the ride was relatively silent, Dirk checking his phone periodically, the low music barley bumping the speakers. Dirk rolled down his window to feel the air on his face, his hair whipping around, and Dave just let him chill. The worst of his teen years were yet to come, so he savored this. 

Pulling up to Jakes, Dirk sat up and grabbed his stuff, not really having the opportunity to pack a bag. It’s not like he didn’t have a thousand things here, anyways. 

“I love you” Dave said softly, Dirk getting out of the car and looking at him, things clutched to his chest. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow, okay? Just call me whenever.” 

“Okay…” Dirk put a hand up to shut the door, looking down and quietly “I love you too.” 

The door shut and Dave watched Dirk run up to the front steps, knocking and the door instantly opening, the warm light from the inside seeping out. Jake waved, smiling and pulling Dirk inside. The door shut and the light disappeared, Dave content to exit the driveway. The sun was all but gone now, and he was ready to go home. 

Jake had dragged him to his room once, one of those early mornings when he dropped him off and Grandpa was gone at work, showing him his quite grotesque pinned bug collection; Thousands of butterflies and spiders in frames, beetles in glass boxes, and the bones of many creatures that all remained incomplete. Quite the little vulture that kid was. 

He also liked living things of equally strange variety. His large room, service of that giant house, was a perfect housing block for his snakes, scorpions, and tarantulas. Dave had always been a bird person, so a bird-eater tarantula had never been on his pet bucket list, but the confidence in which Jake handled it was quite impressive. 

Dave, either way, found insane joy in this odd collection. His days of collecting and preserving animal  
bones were behind him, but his love for the hobby never left. Jake’s special attachment to bugs, however, Dave could never get behind. 

Dirk had a special attachment to never going near anything like that, ever, squeamish like an old lady. He gagged when Jake told the story about the roadkill raccoon him and his grandfather skinned together, a little fearful of blood himself, but he was only a kid. 

Dave had been so surprised to see that Dirk had ended up being his polar opposite, but it was even more flattering that his best friend was so much like him. Jake was loud, crazy, and cocky, all things Dave was not, but they were similar enough you could draw the parallels. 

He drove along the highway, turning up his music, almost on autopilot. Dave had driven this road a thousand times so it didn’t really matter. 

Dave’s attention was only caught when his eyes noticed the person behind him riding his ass, tinted windshield like a douchebag. It was also illegal, but he wasn’t one to call in over-tinting on windows. He sped up a little but the car matched his pace, making him uneasy. Did this person recognize him or something? Were they following him home? No way… 

He switched lanes to check, and sure enough, they followed. Dave switched back, grinding his teeth. Could this dude get off his ass? He looked around to see who shared the highway with him, preparing to speed up and swerve between the lanes to lose this dude when- 

BAM. Dave jerked forward, clutching the wheel instinctively as his back wheels spun outwards a bit. He was able to straighten her out, cursing as he pulled to the side of the road. Had this asshole really just rammed him? Going 80 on the highway? He stopped the car, the guy slowly coming over with him, still parking unreasonably close behind him. Dave took a deep breath, dreading this conversation, fixing his shades and stepping out of the car. He walked around his car, waiting for them to walk over. 

They did, and he was pleasantly surprised to see a female. At Least they probably weren’t a creep, famous last words and all. She was short and curvy, with fluffy, almost matted, black hair. She could be a teenager, maybe a young adult, but no older than 25. She had a goth look to her— and not in the normie way. She looked straight from a vampires wet dream. 

“Uh hey” Dave was awkward, as he always was. 

“Hello! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you!” She scrunched up her lips, expressive like a cartoon, almost as if she was faking “I was arguing with my boyfriend, it’s really my bad.” 

“It’s cool, are you, like, 18?” 

“Oh yeah! I have insurance, if that’s what you mean?” 

“Um, yes” Dave fixed his shades nervously, glad that if this girl knew who he was, she wasn’t saying anything. She put up a hand, pointing back to her car and walking over, Dave turning around to dig in his glove box for his bullshit. He never had to do this, and honestly he was pretty mad about his bumper being scuffed. This car was his baby, man. 

He found the booklet, standing up and out of his car, flipping through it to find his-CRACK. His whole body went forward, stumbling and hitting the ground as whatever had just been swung at him made contact with his skull, face planting into his open door. His vision went white and he was only conscious for a few more seconds, his shades so clearly not on his face anymore. He heard muffled talking, way more than just one girl, and his body felt sick. 

Dave’s face swelled with warmth as his vision went blind, his body slumping left and he was out cold.


	4. There’s something wrong with Kurloz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave spends a Sunday morning learning about murder before being added to the posse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry this took so long! Not only has school been kicking my ass, but I wanted to make this one extra long for lost time! Unfortunately, this chapter is super dialogue heavy, and I already know the next one will be too. I hope I’ve had it not come off as just loads of exposition LOL 
> 
> This chapter contains vague descriptions of crime scenes and mentions of deportation.

Sound is what Dave got back first. Although, there was a seriously uncomfortable ringing in his ears. All other noise, wherever his body was, was muffled and clogged, like listening to someone talk underwater. There wasn’t much to hear, besides a conversation, and an obvious laugh track. It was a TV. 

His taste wasn’t far behind, but there wasn’t much to taste at all; besides the hotness of his mouth. No blood, no lingering food, and as he grudgingly lifted his tongue to run it across the back of his teeth, he was delighted to feel that he had them all. The memory of what had happened came back all at once, and as he felt his teeth, the feeling came back to all of his body and the headache swelling at the back of his skull was so painfully obvious that he couldn’t help but groan. 

As he shifted, wanting to touch his head, neither of his arms made it very far as he tugged and something cold dug into his wrists. He pulled on his arms, harder, and the same restriction caught him. Suddenly the noise stopped, the Tv, and his ears popped. His eyes finally opened, and he was looking down at his lap. His neck hurt, and he assumed he had been bending it for some time. Dave pulled on his arms again and as his brain finally caught up with his body, he used his fingers to bend his wrist and feel whatever was around him, wrapping his fingers around a chain. It was handcuffs, it must be, and they were looped through the wood of the chair which stopped him standing or lifting his arms over his head. Atleast, that’s what he assumed from just his sense of touch. 

His vision was still foggy, and Dave could hardly move his legs, but as he tugged on his arms, he was overwhelmed with the feeling of being watched. Hardly in control of his body, he lifted his head with all the strength he’d regained, only able to look up far enough to be staring down at the bright red sneakers on the feet of whoever was sitting with him. 

He knew those sneakers, and the familiarity pushed him to look up farther, following the slim legs in ripped jeans all the way up to the torso, with an unbuttoned blue flannel on, only wearing her bra underneath, so obviously that it was a waste to button the bottom 3 buttons she had. Dave knew who this was subconsciously before he even saw her face, staring his best friend in the eyes. Her roots had grown out exponentially, the bleach blonde whipping around her cheeks, the bar of her snake bite piercings wedged between the gap in her two front teeth. 

Vriska looked back at him, and even in his weak state, he could see the nerves all over her face. She had a remote in her hand, the chipped black nailpolish blurry as she twitched her finger too fast for his lazy eyes to keep up with. His eyebrows still furrowed, and in his confusion, he tried to rip on his arms again. This time, as they continued to refuse to break free, his frustration got the best of him and he started to thrash around, planting his feet firm in the ground and ripping around his torso so he could try even harder to pull his hands out of the restraints. This grand display of capability made Vriska quickly reach out her hands and grab his shoulders, grounding him further, trying to talk to him but he still couldn’t piece together what she was saying. He groaned again, pulling his shoulders away from her, trying to breathe comfortably. 

What was happening, why was Vriska sitting infront of him in her bra, and why the fuck was he handcuffed to a chair? Why did a goth teenage girl hit him over the head, and what time was it? 

As he pulled himself back to earth he quickly regained full consciousness, all of his senses coming back fully and now he had no way of avoiding the situation. Cracking his neck, he huffed, looking Vriska in the eyes again. She was hunched over, elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. Vriska had pushed her glasses up on top of her head, pushing back her bangs, and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. 

“...Vris?” He finally spoke, his voice crunchy and painful to use, making him choke. He coughed, leaning forward, Vriska touching his shoulder again. 

“Hey, chill dude, you just got back” She rubbed his shoulder blade, ducking her head low to try and look at him. He met her halfway, still confused. “Are you okay, does your head hurt?” 

“Um…” he tried to talk, but his mouth was still slurring “Yeah, my head hurts a lot.” 

“Here-“ She stood up, pushing back her own chair and disappearing behind him. He instinctively followed, finally looking around. This wasn’t his apartment, this wasn't her apartment, and it wasn’t any place he had been before. The furniture was light, no decorations, and the door had a fancy latching lock on it. As he looked around, he started to realize the odd decor and setup made it clear that he was in a hotel. He was facing the tv, but as he looked behind him, he saw that the chair he was in was pushed against a bed. Looking the other way, he saw Vriska between the beds, digging in a bag. She quickly passed in front of him, his eyes following as she walked over, turning into a doorway he couldn’t see the room for. 

The sounds of the facet turning on made it pretty clear she was in the bathroom, and she was out in only a few seconds, the light shining on the wall and front

door, the skinny girl sitting back down infront of him. In one hand, she was cupping two pills, and in the other she was holding a paper cup. She instinctively went to hand him the pills, Dave moving his hand to grab it, but his wrist caught again and reminded him of his situation. He groaned, thrashing again. 

“Chill, chill” She insisted, standing again, holding the pills in a fist and putting the cup on the tv stand, disappearing behind him again and back to the same bag, digging with one hand to dig out jangly keys. She flipped with her fingers until she got one, coming up behind him and bending down, grabbing the cuff and sticking the key inside, struggling with it before one unlocked, and then the other, clunking as they hit the ground. Dave pulled his hands in front of him, rubbing his wrists, and rubbed his face to try and wake himself up more. “There, I thought that shit was ridiculous anyways.” 

He could take the medicine now, and he did, confident it was just Ibuprofen from the appearance. Dave drank the water like a shot from the tiny cup, crushing the flimsy thing in a fist, wiping off his sweaty forehead. 

“Thanks” he mumbled again, looking around again with his free hands, taking in just where he was. The blinds and curtains were closed tight, and the lights were off, now only the light from the muted tv flashing technicolor off the walls and Vriska's face. “What the fuck… happened?” 

“What do you remember?” She answered with a question. 

“I remember dropping off Dirk, and then someone rammed my car, a teenager? And then I hit the ground after being hit with something- Hey” He suddenly stopped “Did you fucking hit me?” 

“No! No, it wasn’t me” Vriska deflected “I mean… It was my fault, but it wasn’t my idea.” 

“What the fuck is going on, Vris” Dave groaned, already tired of her bullshit. “You disappear without a note, a text, a call, and you fucking attack me and bring me to this random hotel? What are you smoking-“

“It’s not like that, Dave.” She spoke seriously, and Dave hated when she did that “It’s seriously nothing like that. I’m sorry I left without a trace, it wasn’t my choice, I was in your position at the beginning of last week too” 

“You didn’t answer my question-“ 

“Did you go to a party? At Kurloz’s place?” She interrupted, irritating him. 

“Yes, Vriska, that shit doesn’t matter. What is this.” Dave brushed off the question, but Vriska looked away angrily. She shook her head, rolling her lips together. 

“Dave, you've gotta trust what I’m saying, okay?” She asked, but Dave knew he wasn’t gonna be spared from whatever bullshit she was about to lay on him so he didn’t bother to answer. “Last week, the day after you dropped me off drunk at home, I was out and this emo ass teenager approached me and asked me to walk her to her car-“ 

“Vriska.” He grinded his teeth

“Dude, just listen” She stopped him “Well, this tiny bitch attacked me and brought me to this hotel room, this exact one dude, and I sat in that same chair and she sat in this chair and dumped a load of crazy shit all over me. She told me all of this stuff about Kurloz I didn’t want to believe, but she needed me to get to you…” 

“You led some crazy bitch to  _ me _ ?!” Dave couldn't believe the bullshit he was hearing“I can’t do this shit Vriska, I can’t play this game and go along with some dumb bullshit. I have a movie to write, I have a SON Vriska, come on-“ He stood up, but she pushed him back on his ass by his shoulder, making him grunt. 

“Dave, it’s not a game!” She insisted “It's real shit, none of that matters right now. You are in danger, Dirk is in danger, this is real shit-“

“ **What** is real shit, Vriska?” He calmed down with a sigh “At least tell me, you have to tell me what is going on before I go absolutely crazy.” 

“She told me to wait-“ 

“Who? How many people are in on this?” Dave asked 

“Aradia, the emo chick, that’s ‘She’” Vriska explained “It’s a lot more people then I realized, they are all here. It’s her boyfriend, a group of her friends, a victim- I dunno man it’s a lot.” 

“Where are they?” He looked at the door, which was locked. It was all making him increasingly uneasy, but he couldn’t tell if this was Vriska in her mania, or something real she was explaining. 

“They left to get something from their car, you woke up at the perfect time man, they should be-“ 

And as if the plot was driving it, the beep of the card reader lit the little light on their side of the door green, the door clicking and pushing open. It instantly stopped on the lock, and Vriska got up quickly to undo it, the door pushing open and like a clown car everyone piled in. Dave’s stomach twisted, and he wanted to stand up and back up, but he was frozen in fear. 

It was 5 people, all in varying appearance and clothing styles, one very tall member holding a large duffle bag. He had glasses on, but they must be cosmetic, because they resembled old fashion 3D glasses you get at movies or in DVDs. He towered over the emo girl he recognized, though barley, as she was bare faced with her hair tied up, wearing a hotel workers uniform. After them was another tall one, a woman, with probably one of the most eye catching figures of all time, she was stunning, looking behind her as another man pushed in, much shorter. This small man had his hair pushed back, his bangs dyed purple, He wore a big scarf around his neck, and under the scarf was a strap holding up a big camera against his chest. 

Dave focused on the last member, a face he couldn’t make out, her hair cut into a blonde bob. Very Casey Becker of Scream, in a tanktop and jeans, and Vriska backed up closer to him, the blonde girl closing the door and locking it again. They were all talking, the emo girl laughing, until Vriska spoke up. 

“Um, you guys” She spoke, all of them turning in unison “He’s awake.” 

Every single eye in the room locked on to him, and the anxiety made him want to vomit, his face flushing. The blonde girl turned away, hiding her face in the tall, gorgeous, woman’s shoulder, even though he couldn’t see her anyways. The emo girl, who he knew was named Aradia, approached him carefully, not getting any closer then Vriska. 

“Hey, hello” She spoke, that same soft voice he fell victim too before “I’m so glad you woke up, wow, you were starting to make me nervous!” 

“What…” He spoke quietly 

“It’s okay, don’t worry, it’s all good” She blabbed, a big smile on her face. This girl had some of the whitest teeth he had ever seen, and it was blinding. “I’m so glad we get to talk to you, Dave, we’ve been trying to find you for some time.” 

“Vriska I swear to fucking god-“ Dave spoke a little louder, getting the fake blondes attention, putting up her hands defensively. 

“Dude, it’s all gonna make sense soon-“ 

“You uncuffed him?” The tall man in the 3D glasses pointed out, dropping the bag against the bed, unzipping it and digging through it. 

“Vriska!” Aradia scolded “I told you-“ 

“Dude, he’s my best friend. He was already getting super uneasy, I didn’t want him to feel trapped” Vriska argued with her, and Aradia crossed her arms with a shake of her head. “Plus, he needed to take medicine for his head…” 

“I’m so sorry about that, the shovel was all we had, I was late for my night shift and we were in a rush-“ Aradia laughed as if it was all some silly thing to look back on, but Dave stared at her in bewilderment. Her laugh slowly became awkward and she looked away, digging in her pocket and pulling out his familiar shades, handing them to him. “Oh! and we made sure to grab these! No damage or anything! What are the chances.. ha.. ha..” 

Dave slowly reached out to take them and slid them on his face, adjusting them to be comfortable again. It was nice to have this little bit of shading. He sighed, rubbing the pain source on his head, looking around the group of people with an uneasy expression. 

“What’s… going on?” He asked, Aradia looking behind her at the others, Vriska sticking her hands in her dorky pockets. Aradia pointed into the group of people, and the short man with dyed hair walked away, leaving the other two girls standing alone, standing next to the tall man. Their height differences were even more obvious when they stood so close. 

“I think she wants to explain it, at first at least” Aradia played the pronoun game, but he had a good feeling it was the blonde one. Her odd behavior gave something away, and the tall one seemed too upset. She nudged the blonde one with an elbow, urging her to approach Dave. She did, head down and shielded by her bangs, walking over to him slowly. She sighed, looking up once she was close enough to really see. 

His heart skipped a beat once he saw her face. The big brown eyes with thick eyelashes, the crooked nose, and the full lips were so familiar it made him sick. Her deadpan face was the striking image of the photo the cops had shown him all those years ago, 12 years ago, when he was holding Dirk in his arms. Although her hair was once long, her face flashed in his head as he remembered gripping that paper, disgusted by the woman he was looking at. She was in the flesh now, her sad and nervous eyes looking in his, no one speaking a word as he clearly realized who she was. 

This was Dirks mom, this was his sister, this was… 

Rose Lalonde. 

“What. The fuck” He said, looking passed Rose and to Vriska, who looked equally as nervous. His friend looked away, down at the tall man with the lisp, who was still digging through the duffle bag, obviously losing his patience as he was searching for something.

“Dave, I have a lot to explain to you-“ 

“Yeah no fucking kidding, what the fuck?” Dave was smiling but this wasn’t funny. All the arguments he had with this bitch in the shower were flooding back, and his anger at her for abandoning his son was stronger than any apology could possibly tackle. 

“I know you probably hate me, or don’t understand how I’m even here, but I just want to explain everything to you— I want to apologize for making you take care of baby boy, and never reaching out to you…” 

“Okay, uh” Dave stuttered, almost sure he had knocked that habit when he was a kid “First of all, I don’t want an apology because it doesn’t fucking matter to me what bullshit you are gonna spew at me. Second, baby boy? His name is Dirk.” 

“Dirk, yeah, I’m sorry” Rose pushed away her bangs, sighing and putting her face in her hands. “That’s an excellent name, Dirk, I like it.” 

“...” Dave’s nose flared and he looked down “Thanks.”

“And I,” She started, obviously deterred by the nasty glare Dave shot at her “I just want to explain myself.” 

“Good luck” Vriska butted in with a laugh, and Dave couldn’t have put it better. The tall woman narrowed her eyes at them both, the women ignoring each other again as the attention was focused back on Dave.

“I didn’t just leave because I wanted to, and I didn’t just leave and assume he’d find a home someday” She waved around her hands “I looked you up, found you, STALKED you for days. You were rich and famous living in San Jose and… well… I knew my neighbors would complain about his crying because they always did. It was the perfect situation for me.” 

“I can’t believe you just said that.” 

“Look, Dave, kids really aren’t my thing” Rose shook her head “I didn’t even want him, I didn’t name him, and I had something bigger to do-“ 

“Bigger? Bigger than him? You do understand you are talking about MY son right?” Dave interrupted her again, Vriska laughing at Rose in complete disbelief at her terrible explanation skills. 

“He was my son, too” Rose argued 

“No, he was your baby. He’s my son” Dave stopped her quick on that one, making a sharp movement with his hand to signify that the argument was done. “Look, nothing you are gonna say is gonna make me not want to beat your head in so, please, just continue.” 

“Fine” She let out a sharp breath “I had just given birth to… Dirk, when Kanaya came into my life.” 

The tall woman next to him lifted a hand to wave, letting him know that she was the Kanaya in question. 

“She made me feel whole, complete, happy” Rose smiled with genuine fondness, but Kanaya remained stern in the face. “But, she introduced me to… this.” Rose gestured around the room at everyone inside, letting her arms fall to her sides with a slap. “It was an organization dedicated to solving cold cases, ones that had serious police cover ups involved, specifically. I was called to her, and I made it my career. That’s why I had to leave baby boy behind, because I couldn’t excuse bringing him into this life but… It seems that was all in vain…” 

“What do you mean?” Dave furrowed his eyebrows “What does Dirk have to do with any of this?” 

“Technically, it’s not that he has anything to do with it, and more so that he is now… directly in danger because of it-“ 

“What?! What the fuck do you mean-“ 

“Oh my god, way to go Rose, what an incredible way to word such a delicate subject” Vriska finally fully intervened, the tall boy and Aradia’s heads shooting up to watch, the boy with the camera already deep into it like a tele Novella. “That’s his son, his real life fucking baby genius, dude, and you decide to come right out the gate with the danger card?” 

“How the fuck else was I supposed to say it?” His sister shot back, Kanaya putting herself between them. 

“I don’t give a fuck how to was worded ” Dave stressed “Why is my son in danger? Why am I here? Why the fuck am i just sitting here listening to this bullshit-“ 

“Dave.” Kanaya spoke, silencing the background bickering between Rose and Vriska, and everyone in the room for that fact. “I’m sure you must be very upset right now.” The tall woman, possibly middle eastern if Dave was right, had her hands crossed over her lap elegantly, that welcoming but serious expression on her face. It was the perfect level of ‘I’m a trustable person, but I understand your plight’ and Dave felt as much at ease as he possibly could in this situation. “This can’t be an easy thing to experience, but I can promise you we aren’t here to hurt you, to scare you, or horribly explain the status of your son's safety to you. We only ask that you offer us an open mind and let us explain ah… a sort of, um, theory to you.” 

She did air quotes as she said “Theory” and Dave got a peak at her long red Acrylic nails. They made her long and slender fingers all the more attractive, and she folded her hands back together and laid them once again on her lap. 

“I, yeah” Dave rubbed his head again “Sure?” 

“Perfect!” Aradia finally spoke again, lifting the projector from the duffle bag and hauling it over to the Tv-stand, everyone staying clear out of her way. It hit the wood with a thud, and the tall boy grumbled but one look from Aradia and he blushed and handed her a cord. She plugged it into the wall, and trailed it up to the projector and pushed it into a few sockets before it fit. Clicking the power button, the old thing booted up. 

Plugged into a laptop covered in stickers, ranging from Cannibal Corpse song lyrics to Indiana Jones quotes, he assumed it was Aradias. He couldn’t see the screen, but as the projector turned on, it shined against the wall and revealed the image of a digital...timeline?

It was clearly a timeline, with pictures and tiny text he couldn’t read, Vriska switching off the tv so the projection was more clear. Aradia fixed her ponytail and Kanaya walked over to the boy with the camera, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Me and Eridan are gonna get coffee, okay? Room is getting a little stuffy. Call us if you need anything, alright darling?” Kanaya said, Rose nodding. 

“You know what to get me” Aradia waved a hand, and Kanaya pulled the boy and her from the room, the door clicking as it automatically locked. 

Dave was getting uncomfortable again as he looked back to Aradia, Rose sitting in the arm chair with a leg up, looking at the timeline herself. Aradia smiled, turning back to Dave to that ghostly look that seemed to be her signature. 

“I’m so glad you agreed to listen, but this is gonna be… a lot” Aradia giggled “So please, try and keep questions to a minimum? But still, don’t be afraid to ask, because I don’t give a fuck either way.” 

Vriska came up behind him, making him flinch, putting her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to comfort. It was actually pretty nice, and he detensed a little. Her boyfriend stood up, handing her a little stick to point with, and Dave felt it was funny how organized this was. Aradia extended it, and looked back to him. 

“So, all of what i’m about to tell you has a lot more to do with your close friend, John Egbert.” 

“John? Why” Dave scrunched his face in confusion, but it was more of an annoyed look than anything. 

“Well, to answer that, we have to start at the beginning.” 

Sollux mumbled an “Excuse me” as he weaseled behind Vriska and Dave, bending over to scroll on the laptop. It had dimmed, but when he touched it the screen lit up again, tapping a few things until the projection zoomed in at the beginning of the timeline. A picture popped up, a very nicely photographed picture, obviously professional, next to a much more gruesome crime scene photo of what seemed to be the same man. Underneath the photos was a name— 

“This was  _ MinJun Jong”  _ Aradia said, pointing at the first photo. He was an incredibly handsome Asian man, and based on his name, Dave made the safe bet that he was Korean. “He was a 30 year old model from Busan, and he was murdered on December 8th, 2010.” 

She shifted her pointer to the second picture, the same guy, as he noticed before, horribly bruised to shit. His lips were purple and he had holes lining the trim of his lips, almost as if his mouth had been sewn or stapled shut. His eyes were swollen shut, and from the way his mouth was parted, you could see a few of his teeth were missing. Dave was pretty desensitized to this stuff, but even Vriska was a little squeamish, looking away with a “bluh”. Aradia then drug her pointer down to the timeline. 

“He got a Visa to America and lived here for 90 days before his body was found, naked, in a subway station near West Hollywood. Jun was a well known Korean model and he starred in a lot of dramas. His death took Korea by storm but got little to no coverage outside of California, and barely even any in California.” Aradia info dumped, pausing to make sure Dave was still paying attention. “His only surviving relatives, his grandparents, died 6 months later 4 days apart, and they never found the killer. However, he had an escort, his photographer and friend, our friend, Eridan Ampora.” 

Eridan must be that little guy with the purple bangs, he had a few hints for that one, and it was crazy to think he would have a connection to such a horrible crime. How all of this was connected to Kurloz, him, or even John was currently beyond him. 

“Moving on,” Aradia said, another click as the timeline slid across the screen, two new pictures popping up. “This was  _ Sam Cheong,  _ an 18 year old half white Korean man from the city. He was found dead in the dumpster behind his old government housing facility, August 28th, 2013.” 

The first picture was a mugshot of exactly that, a half white Korean man, frowning, with shaggy but well kept black hair, a birthmark under his eye. 

“He was arrested multiple times within the 12 months he was released from the home and up to his death, for petty crimes and once for drug possession, but he was bailed out every time it was placed for him. He didn’t even spend a day in jail. Sam was found behind the housing facility by his own service worker, also naked, within, estimated, only 30 minutes of his body being discarded.” 

The second picture was like the first one, a crime scene photo of the same boy, equally as beat up and unrecognizable. His face was covered in cigarette burns, lips swollen and blue, and his neck had a clear burn or bruise, whatever you’d call it, from a rope or cord. He looked much more brutalized, and Dave had a harder time recognizing him. Even his hair had been chopped up short, and it was obviously quickly done and haphazard. 

“You keeping up?” Aradia asked kindly, turning to Dave, who nodded slowly. He was keeping up with each case, but the bigger picture hadn’t gotten to him. “Okay, perfect, next-“ 

Again it slid. This time, the pictures were different. The photos were both of the same boy, but neither was a crime scene photo or even a casket photo. 

“This is Karkat Vantas, a half Mexican, half Korean boy from Chicago, who moved to California a few months after his family while he was attending school out of state. Karkat was living with our very own Kanaya, and her family, until his family requested he come home. He was 14, but in 2016 he was reported missing, and only 2 weeks later he was pronounced dead with no body. They never found him, his body, or even any evidence of him still being in California. His 18th birthday is coming up this week, actually-“ 

“Wait, what?” Dave butted in, Aradia blinking a few times as she turned around and looked at him. 

“What is it?” 

“Well, ah” Dave shook his head “That’s just crazy because I know Karkat.” 

“You… know him?” Aradia widened her eyes, a smile creeping on her macabre face. Dave shrugged, looking at Vriska who seemed equally as interested in what he had to say. 

“Well, I guess I just know of him. I just met a family today, or… yesterday? Nobody ever told me what day it was—“ 

“It’s Sunday, sunday morning” Aradia answered

“Then yeah, yesterday I met his parents at a party. They told me Karkat was dead, but they didn’t mention anything about him going missing. It was sad as shit” 

Every set of eyes was on him again, and Dave was awkward. He forgot he didn’t know these people for a second, so lost in Aradia's powerpoint, and he was no longer comfortable. Rose rolled her eyes, Aradia smiling as he stared at him, her boyfriend pushing up his glasses awkwardly. “That’s… lets come back to that okay, because i’m gonna explain what’s all this means, okay?” 

“Uh… yeah, okay.” Dave nodded

“That leaves us with one more victim, his current victim—” She started, the powerpoint sliding again and Dave’s eyes widened behind his shades. The face of his highschool bestfriend came up on the screen, a smiling photo of him cropped from a red carpet event picture, and no second picture. All of his details Dave was already familiar with, but him being framed as a current victim was unsettling. “John Egbert. You know John, we all know John. He’s a famous Comedian, an immigrant, and he’s currently dating one Kurloz Makara.” 

Dave just nodded, Aradia clearly appreciating his silence. “Now, that we’ve made it to John, you probably wanna know how this is all connected?” 

“Yeah, please” Dave said 

“Okay, so to do that we first have to look at what all these men have in common” She closed her stick up and put it against the tv stand. Her boyfriend, who Dave was kinda wishing he knew the name of, stood up and disappeared behind him. “All of these victims are, one, men, two, Korean of some variety, and three, familyless immigrants… ” 

“Jun, whose only family died before the case could even get off the ground, wasn’t even a citizen of the country he died in. Sam lived in a group home most of his teenage years, his family having been deported without him, and was completely alone with no one besides his caseworker. John, although a citizen, is the first generation of citizens for his family. John also has a strained relationship with his father, who he often makes fun of in his comedy sketches. It’s a pretty consistent set of parallels already, but there’s one more, way more, important similarity…” 

“All of these men dated, or are currently dating, Kurloz Makara.” Aradia said it with finality, and it felt exactly like the grand reveal in a horror movie. Dave could picture exactly what music que he would put behind her as she said it, a score in the background that subconsciously gave the audience a dangerous amount of anticipation leading up to the reveal. And, Dave could hear the music, as what she was claiming finally made sense to him. 

“There is no fucking way you expect me to believe that Kurloz killed these dudes, right?” Dave shook his head, completely shocked at the accusation. Look, him and Kurloz weren’t buddy-buddy, but he had just started to give him a chance. He didn’t hate anyone enough to assume they are a killer based purely on blind trust. 

“It’s not just that, I know right now it seems like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, maybe he just has terrible luck with his romantic partners, but there’s a lot more to it” Aradia put out a hand to ask him for more patience, which he was starting to run low on. 

“We have three key witnesses to the victims behavior after meeting Kurloz, and public record of statements that never got used in court of his name coming up over and over again…” Aradia reached out a hand, and over the top of his head, Sollux handed her a beige folder with sprawled notes all over it. She flipped through the pages until, smiling, she pulled out a page. “Jun and Kurloz dated for a year. Here’s a call log between Eridan and Jun around the halfway point. Eridan had already been recording conversations at this point, because Jun would go missing for days and not show up for work…” 

Dave took the call log, a piece of white paper with printed words on it, each sentence clearly preceded by who was saying it. The log seemed to almost start in the middle of a conversation… 

_ Jun:  _ **_아니, 그는 여기 없어_ ** _ (No, he’s not here) _

_ ani, geuneun yeogi eobs-eo _

_ Eridan:  _ **_언제 떠났습니까?_ ** _ (When did he leave?) _

_ eonje tteonassseubnikka? _

_ Jun:  _ **_어 30 분 전에?_ ** _ (Uhh, 30 minutes ago)  _

_ eo, 30 bun jeon-e? _

_ Eridan:  _ **_좋아, 내가 당신을 데리러 간다._ ** _ (Okay, I’m going to pick you up.) joh-a, naega dangsin-eul delileo ganda. _

_ Jun:  _ **_아니, 하지마. 그는 오늘 밤 나를 집에 데려다 주겠다고 했어요. 그는 약속했다._ ** _ (No, don’t. He said he’d take me home tonight. He promised)  _

_ ani, hajima. geuneun oneul bam naleul jib-e delyeoda jugessdago haess-eoyo. geuneun yagsoghaessda. _

_ Eridan:  _ **_거짓말이야! 그는 어제 그렇게 말했지만 결코 일어나지 않았습니다._ ** _ (That’s a lie! He said that yesterday, and it never happened) _

_ geojismal-iya! geuneun eoje geuleohge malhaessjiman gyeolko il-eonaji anh-assseubnida. _

_ Jun:  _ **_이것을 더 악화시키지 마십시오. 그는 내가 내일 일할 수 있다고 했어요 알 겠지요?_ ** _ (Don’t make this worse. He said I could work tomorrow, okay?) _

_ igeos-eul deo aghwasikiji masibsio. geuneun naega naeil ilhal su issdago haess-eoyo al gessjiyo? _

_ Eridan:  _ **_잠깐, 집에 오거나 그냥 일할 수 있어요?_ ** _ (Wait, can you come home or just work?)  _

_ jamkkan, jib-e ogeona geunyang ilhal su iss-eoyo? _

_ Jun:  _ Eridan-

_ Air-a-den _

_ Eridan:  _ **_아니, 지금 간다. 내가 그 못생긴 년을 직접 파괴 할게._ ** _ (No, I’m coming right now. I’ll fuck up that ugly bitch myself.)  _

_ ani, jigeum ganda. naega geu mos-saeng-gin nyeon-eul jigjeob pagoe halge.  _

_Jun: (away from phone)… What? Kurloz?_ ** _그는 집에있다_** _(He’s home)_ _geuneun jib-eissda._

The conversation ended, as far as Dave was allowed to read, and he handed the paper back to Aradia. He took in what he read, and he couldn’t deny, Kurloz was indeed mentioned in that conversation. If he was still trusting Aradia, and this group, he’d have to trust that this conversation actually happened. 

“Okay, so… what does this mean?” Dave asked 

“Well, after this conversation, Eridan showed up at Kurloz’s house and got into an argument and physical altercation with the dude at the gate. They refused to let him in and he called Jun again, but he never answered. Kurloz came outside, they argued, but Jun came outside and begged them to stop fighting. Eridan barley got a word in before his brother forced him to leave. Jun never came to work again, and both of them got fired from the job.” Aradia flipped through the papers again, handing Dave a paper that suspended Jun’s work visa. “Eridan, being a citizen, didn’t face any serious consequences besides losing a job, but Jun was only in the states for one reason. Eridan was forced to sign or go to jail, and a deportation officer was sent to the only other place Jun was known to be living…” 

“Fuck, what a bunch of assholes” Dave shook his head, looking over the document. 

“No kidding” Aradia frowned “But, it doesn’t stop there. When the officer showed up, Jun wasn’t there. They raided the whole house, and not even his stuff was there. No evidence a new person was there, no phone, no hair, nada, zilch.” She made a sharp hand motion with her hand, to signify how serious she was about nothing being there. “Kurloz told police that Jun had left to go back home to Korea days ago, and had no idea who Eridan or his photography company was.” 

Dave blinked in surprise, looking back over the document one last time before handing it to Aradia. 

“A few days later Eridan got one last text from Jun. It basically said that he was going back to Korea, that Eridan ruined his life, and he hated him. Eridan tried to text him back, called him a shit load, but Jun never answered and he couldn’t find anyone who could’ve possibly seen him. A few months later, Jun was found dead— you know the rest.” 

“That’s crazy, and terrible… but…” Dave tried to defend it, but couldn’t think “Okay, um, what about the next guy? Sam?” 

Aradia smiled wide, probably pleased that Dave was listening, and she turned to put the folder down on the table and flipped through wildly. Pulling out a few more pieces of paper. She turned around, holding the paper close to her chest. “So, Sam is a little different.” 

“Okay, hit me” Dave took the papers from her 

“Sam was born to parents he never met, living with his uncle until he died when Sam was 14. He got sent into group homes and was released at 18, he was only out for a year when he was found dead. You know that part, though, but Kurloz played a big part in Sams murder too…” 

“He didn’t have a legal place of residence but whenever his caseworker asked, Sam always reassured he wasn’t homeless. Sam wasn’t legally allowed to drive, for various reasons, but co workers claimed to see him being dropped off and picked up from work in a black SUV. Using security cam footage after the events of his death, these plates were matched back to Kurloz Makara, although he recently had to change them because the stickers expired. Sam’s caseworker also claimed that she had seen the same SUV pick up Sam long before he was released from the facility, before he turned 18.” 

Dave looked down at the papers, a few photos printed from the familiarly shitty quality of a security camera. Stills of a man leaving a building, getting in the black SUV, and the car driving away.

“This exact footage is from the night he was assumed to go missing. It was the last shift he showed up for, and his behavior was more than unusual. His boss says that he asked to stay 3 extra hours on his shift, and he was ‘constantly jumpy’ and ‘on edge’ the entire night. Finally, he left, but he didn’t clock out. He was set to work the next morning at 8am, but he never showed. He missed 3 more shifts and a coworker stopped by his house on a delivery. His apartment was unlocked, his shoes were gone, and he wasn’t home.” 

“His boss called the police, but his criminal record put them off a missing persons report. They did, however, look into Kurloz Makara after his car got brought up. At his home, Kurloz admitted to having been in a relationship with Sam, claiming that he had picked up Sam the night before, and that they got into a nasty argument and broke up. Sam demanded to be dropped off at a bus stop, Kurloz agreed, and he hadn’t seen him since. According to Kurloz, he even paid the bus fee. Sam showed up dead 4 weeks later, and when Kurloz was brought back in for questioning, they couldn’t link him to any crimes; but this time, he had help.” 

Aradia ruffled through the papers in Dave’s hands, finding one and pulling it to the top, Dave surprised to see familiar faces. One was from a security camera, clearly Maria, and another transcript…

_ Maria: Sam? No, Sam hasn’t been at the house in awhile.  _

_ Officer: How long has it been since you’ve seen Sam? _

_ Maria: Um, probably… a few weeks. _

_ Officer: Do you remember the last time he was in the house with you?  _

_ Maria: I don’t live in the house.  _

_ Officer: You don’t live in the house?  _

_ Maria: My son lives in the house, my son.  _

_ Officer: Oh, so when was the last time you saw Sam in the house? _

_ Maria: I saw Sam probably a month before he died. Him and Kurloz’s son were good friends, so my son got along with him too.  _

_ Officer: Was he behaving weirdly? Did he ever express a want to leave, or that his life was in danger? _

_ Maria: Nada*, not that I noticed. (No*) _

_ Officer: Okay— thank you Maria.  _

Dave sighed, reading over it twice. It was crazy that he talked to this woman, and Aradia was applying Maria was covering for a murderer. He liked to think that maybe Maria believed Kurloz, and truly thought he was innocent, but knowing her own son was one of his victims, If she had seen this case, been apart of it, and he was sure what he was gonna learn about Karkat was gonna be just as upsetting, wouldn't she no longer cater to Kurloz and his family? 

“Sam’s case was dropped once no leads were found, he was buried and Kurloz once again faced absolutely no time for his involvement. Now, Maria is important because, as you apparently know, that is Karkat’s mother.” 

“Oh yeah, i’ve met them all.” 

Aradia took the papers from him and once again refilled them into the folder. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone, also completely customized with stickers and sharpie doodles. Aradia was cute. 

“For Karkat, we actually need to go somewhere else. We have one more member of our little group, Kankri, and he’s gonna be able to tell you the full story. It’s the most convincing one, and I promise if you have your doubts now this will completely seal the deal—“ 

“But, you have to promise, dude, if we go with them you can’t pull any funny shit.” Vriska interrupted. “You need to meet this Kankri guy, shit is insane.” 

Dave rolled his lips together and thought about it. On one hand, he had been kidnapped and completely forced against his will to listen for almost an hour now about some bullshit he couldn’t confirm. But, now with this evidence, and the claims that John was in serious danger, he wanted to see it through. Well John.. and Dirk— 

“I have one more question, before I agree to anything” Dave smacked his hands against his thighs, Rose, Aradia, and Sollux all looking up attentively. This was probably the make or break, so he got their focus “How does this affect me, and most importantly, Dirk. Look, i’d be a lot more comfortable if my son wasn’t gonna get dragged into this with me, ya know?” 

Aradia was silent, looking between Rose and Sollux, and even Vriska as she assumably tried to find the words to say what she needed to say. “The thing is, um, we believe you’ve actually put yourself on the timeline…”

“... What?” 

“Well, cause you see, in John's case he, uh, doesn’t really have one yet? Because he ain’t dead. But something we can confirm is that Kurloz very clearly works super hard to make sure he is the only person in his victims' lives. Atleast, consistently. The other people, like Maria or his sons, are all wrapped around his fingers. So John inviting someone into his house… you, without Kurloz’s permission, would make you one hell of a threat, and therefore, a target.” 

“I… yeah, I sorta knew that.”

“You… knew that?”

“Well not that I’m supposedly on the timeline, but Gamzee told me himself that Kurloz controlled every part of John’s life… but me and Kurloz get along?” 

“I don’t doubt it, but that doesn’t change the pattern he’s already made for himself. You influence John to speak out against Kurloz’, you influenced John to make his own decisions, and you give John someone… who will miss him.” 

“He has hundreds of fans, him and his father might be estranged but he would still be completely devastated by his death—“ 

“Devastated, yes, but what could an immigrant, who can hardly speak english, do about one of America’s richest men murdering his son? Get a lawyer?” 

“... Good point…” 

“and it’s not just you, it’s actually less of you at all that would be a target, and instead your son. If Dirk is your weak spot, they are gonna go for it.” 

“Don’t talk like that.” Dave reprimanded, an anger forming in his voice. 

“But it’s the truth, Dave.” Rose spoke up, moving from her comfortable position and standing besides Aradia. “We need your help, but most importantly, you need ours. So?” 

Dave shook his head, putting it in his hands. He knew what they were doing. Even if he was working with the “good guys”, he was still having things held over his head. Dave nodded, rubbing his chin. 

“Fine, yeah, i’ll go with you. But I can’t guarantee that I can do much else besides talk to John if it convinces me enough to do so.” 

“All we need is your open mind!” Aradia said, as inappropriately chipper as always. 

As the conversation came to a close, the handle of the hotel room rattled, followed by a defeated knock. Rose quickly walked over, unlatching it, and opening the door for Kanaya and Eridan. They had cardboard cup holders filled with starbucks coffee drinks, setting them on the desk in an ongoing conversation. Everyone migrated over, besides Dave and Vriska, who kept each other company by his chair. Each hand reached for a drink, Aradia grabbing two, and handing one up to her boyfriend. Only two cups remaining, Vriska waved a hand to be handed the cup holder. 

Even Dave got a drink, an Apple Cinnamon latte, and his name was written with a sharpie and a heart. 

“-and that bitch had the nerve to call me back in. My god, I couldn’t leave that place fast enough.” Eridan finished, Kanaya nodding with a chuckle. 

“Sounds like a miserable place to work. Unlike this, of course” She rolled her eyes, sipping her coffee. 

Dave watched them all react playfully, teasing each other about drink choice, how each name was written with a fun little doodle, and the atmosphere was incredibly welcoming. It felt even better to have Vriska here, because at this moment, he felt very much as if he was one of the friends in this ragtag group, and this was just some fun get-together. Dave sipped the drink, and it made him much more at ease. 

Vriska took her coffee black as fuck, infact, he was sure she’d prefer to just crunch up the beans in her mouth. Dave stuck out his tongue at the idea. She knocked it back like it was nothing, looking over at him sympathetically. Huh, he didn’t know it did that. 

“I’m sorry you got brought into this, I promise we’ll get all this shit done and over with” She said, but even she couldn’t make such big promises. Dave would hope she was right, though. 

“We should go, right?” Aradia's boyfriend spoke up, and Dave had gone just a little too long without knowing his name. 

“Hey, what’s your name?” Dave completely interrupted his point, and he stuttered awkwardly. He had a lisp, a pretty bad one, and that cosmetic split tongue probably didn’t help much. 

“Oh, um, Sollux,” He waved, looking at Aradia who was rubbing the back of her neck. 

“I guess we didn’t really do proper introductions, huh?” Aradia laughed. 

“Yeah, not at all” Vriska spoke for him. 

He didn’t need much more introduction, because he knew them all, and after a second quick run down he was pretty caught up. Aradia, Sollux, Kanaya, Rose, Eridan, and Kankri, who he hadn’t met yet, and ,well, him and Vriska now, too. The circle was only growing.

“But, yes” Aradia pointed at Sollux with double finger guns “He’s right, we need to go meet with Kankri.”

“Eridan” Sollux got the smaller mans attention, but his expression became kinda annoyed “Did you talk to Feferi?” 

“Yeah, duh” Eridan shook his head, lifting his phone, which hadn’t left his hand. “She said we’re good to come whenever, but technically visiting hours don’t start till eight.” 

“What time is it?” Dave asked 

“Uh, almost…five” Vriska answered, with a quick look at her own phone- Hey wait a damn minute, that’s Dave’s phone! He swiped it from her, standing and slipping it into his back pocket with a shack of his head. 

“It’s an hour and a half drive, so, want anything from the employee snack room? They keep the good shit back there” Aradia offered Dave, picking up her keys. 

“I’m good, but, how would we even get back into that?” 

“Employee, stupid” Aradia laughed, pulling on her shirt to show him that, this entire time, her name had been Embroidered into the polo. How would her manager feel about her kidnapping people, adding them to her vigilante murder solving mystery gang, and keeping them held up in the rooms? Probably not very good. 

They all left the room, Vriska staying to go last with Dave, making him feel very watched over. In a weird way, it was kinda nice that she was there. Unfortunately for him, Rose was there too. 

He hadn’t been able to completely block her out, especially since she was sitting in front of him the entire time he was distracted. It was so crazy to look at her, the sister he long forgot, the enemy he never found closure on, simply chatting with her girlfriend. Maybe he would get to know her, gain a friend, but right now his complete repulsion to her actions was making it very, very, hard. On one hand, he had to thank her, because he definitely would’ve overdosed in a club bathroom by 25 if it weren’t for Dirk. Then, on the other hand, he will never forget the way Dirk was shaking from hunger and neglect when he was handed the baby, the way he ate like Dave was gonna take it away, and how it permanently stunted his growth. It was a two sided coin, but Rose wasn’t necessarily redeemable in his mind on either face. 

Heading through the check in lobby, the receptionist waved goodbye to Aradia, watching as the big group left, her eyes catching Dave twice over in confusion. He didn’t go in, but he came out. It was confusing. 

Out in the parking lot, the group naturally split between two cars, and Dave stopped between them. Vriska was going with Rose and Kanaya, but he could also part with Aradia, Sollux, and Eridan. He didn’t really want to sit with Rose in a car that long, but the way Vriska tugged on his arm made him feel as if he had no choice. He begrudgingly went with her, the groups shouting across some directions, jokes, and goodbyes as they got into the car. Aradia pulled out first, Kanaya leaning over from the passenger seat to look at Rose and her phone, punching in an address. 

“Honestly, Dave, this shit will turn you inside out” Vriska promised again, and with her insistence, he was sure she was telling the truth. 

The two stories he heard already were upsetting, convincing too, but he was still interested in what they had to say yet. Currently, he wouldn’t call up John urgently to spread the bad news, but he was willing to hear more. However, he did need to make a phone call. It was hardly 5:15, much too early to expect Grandpa to pick up, especially on his last day home from work for the week. Dave would leave a voicemail though, because lord knows that old man never read or responded to a single text anyone sent to him. Atleast, that’s always what Jake said. 

Dave looked at Vriska, who was slumped in her seat, eyes closed. She must be trying to get some sleep to ride over. He felt safe back here with her, even if he was being driven around by two strangers. Kanaya was skimming through text messages, looking away to speak towards Rose quietly, presumably about what she was reading. Dave could see Rose’s blonde hair through the gap between the bars of the headrest, nodding her head along to whatever Kanaya was quietly saying. It felt surreal to be so close to her. 

Nonetheless, it reminded him of Dirk, and he pulled out his phone from under his thigh. It had a new crack he just noticed, annoying him. 

Putting the phone to his ear, Kanaya turned her head quickly to look at him. “What are you doing?” The phone rang… and rang… and rang...

“Um.. My son is at a friend's house? I’m leaving his grandfather a message about-“ Dave heard the click, and he was sent to the automated voicemail box “Hey Mr. English, it’s Dave. I’m calling to tell you that something… pretty serious came up, and I have to leave town for the day on a really short notice. If it’s not too much to ask, could you please call me when you wake up? Thanks.” 

Kanaya put up her hands defensively, turning to face the road again. Dave hung up the phone and sighed, rubbing his face. 

“How is he?” Rose's voice broke the silence, and Dave couldn’t help but find it somewhat familiar. 

“Dirk?” Dave asked, as if it wasn’t obvious “He’s great. He loves science, loves robots. Literally so funny, he feels like a little friend-“ 

“He’s for real a baby genius, that’s what we call him” Vriska butted in, but it wasn’t annoying. “Dirk can solve literally any problem, you just have to let him think.” 

“Wow, he sounds incredible” Rose nodded her head, catching Dave’s eyes in the mirror. “How old is he?” 

“12 now, 13 in December- ah, but you know that.” 

“Was it the 2nd or 3rd?” She asked honestly 

“3rd, same day as me” Dave shook his head. Rose couldn’t even be asses to remember his birthday? After all these years, how couldn’t she even remember the day she gave birth? Dave thinks he’d have a hard time forgetting. “He hates the winter, though.” 

“Oh my god, I remember putting his little butt in the snow and he would cry so hard before he even touched it because he knew it was gonna be cold. I used to laugh so hard, It made Dave so mad.” Vriska laughed, adjusting her sunglasses. 

“It wasn’t funny! He wouldn’t let you bring him outside even when it was warm out because he didn’t trust you! Literally the worst mom ever” Dave said back, but he couldn’t help but laugh a little. 

“Does Dirk think Vriska is his mother?” Kanaya asked, Rose cocking her head slightly in her direction. 

“Oh hell no-“ Vriska shook her head 

“No, he just knows Vriska helped raise him. He may be young, but he’s no idiot. I’ve always been honest with him, maybe a little too honest, but he’s always known about you.” Dave explained “I don’t think he hates you or anything. He’s always been his own person, i’m sure he’d like to meet you. If you even want to” 

“I’d love to meet him. Honestly” Rose answered quickly, hands gripping the wheel. 

It was quiet for a while after that, everyone falling back into their seats comfortably. Every minute the sky seems to turn bluer and bluer, and the sun gets closer to the horizon. It was ideal filming time, at least how Dave liked it. Vriska looked over at him, and he looked back, and she rolled her eyes. It made him smile, and chuckle a little. Kanaya looked back nonchalantly again and Dave was scared by her eagle ears. 

The music was low, but Kanaya hummed along pleasantly. scrolling through her phone and periodically answering. Dave turned over, looking out the window and watching the city rolled by as they went someplace he had never driven too. It made him a little anxious but he tried to apply his trust.

Dave couldn’t help but focus on the truth behind all this, even if he wasn’t exactly convinced yet. Two violent crimes, of men who happened to be asian, took place three years apart and it was just a coincidence that Kurloz dated them. Shit, maybe he just had a type? Kurloz probably dated tons of hot asian men, age unimportant, so if any of them died it would clearly make him a suspect. But still, Dave couldn’t argue with some of the stuff he had been presented. He mostly just wanted him, and Dirk, to be left out of it. 

He closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against the cold glass, taking a sharp breath in the nose. His shades dig into his nose kind of uncomfortably, but he was used to napping with them on. 

Guess now was as good of a time as any to brainstorm that new movie; What did he have so far? Retail worker, leaving the nightshift, a metaphor for I.C.E, maybe some eldritch monstrosities…

Dave was shaken awake by the car stopping, blinking the tired from his eyes as he jerked forward. Looking outside, the sun had fully risen and sat just above the horizon. He groaned, stretching and turning his torso from side to side. Fixing his shades, he looked to Vriska who was rubbing her eyes, sitting up from her slouched position with a curse. That probably did wonders for her back. He shoved her, and the fake blonde swatted at him, fixing her shirt so it was awkwardly tucked into her bra. 

“We’re here” Kanaya turned in her seat to face them, undoing her seatbelt and clapping playfully. 

Dave left the car as the three women did, shutting his door and looking up at the building he was infront of. It was a tall apartment, seemingly repurposed, a sign at the entrance that read “Boon Homing Facility”. It didn’t look like public housing, infact, it was a very nice and up kept building. The cars in the lot were newer, made in the last 10 years atleast, and the neighbor surrounding them was upscale. Dave didn’t move until Vriska came up behind him and walked infront of him, and he didn’t feel as uncomfortable. Catching up to Vriska, he could see that same look on her face. 

No matter how much money they had now, deep down they were still those poor orphans gawking at an expensive building. 

Rose and Kanaya opened the door and held it open for the two of them, the small group walking into the lobby quietly. They got here first, somehow, even if they left second, and Kanaya approached the desk. A woman at the desk, young, probably a little younger than him, put her head up and soon she was smiling. 

The girl stood up, mixed with edges laid, her black hair was done in a protective style, goddess locs with golden metal cuffs around a few of the braids. She was surprisingly muscular, with broad shoulders, and Dave knew if she punched him it would be over. Her face was round and sweet, big lips, and big fishy eyes. She had her makeup done well, and her smell was a Victoria’s Secret perfume, cocoa butter mix, and everything about her seemed familiar and welcoming. Her desk was covered in nicknacks, and hanging off the back of her computer was a few swimming tournament ribbons. She seemed to win a lot. 

“Kanaya! Hello, Eridan didn’t say you were coming alone?” She leaned over the counter and pulled her loose hair behind her ear. 

“Oh, we aren’t, they are just running late.” Kanaya shook her head with a smile

“Well that’s okay, gives me time to page Kankri! That is why you're here, right?” She asked, cocking her head cutely.

“Yup” Kanaya nodded, looking back behind her and locking eyes with Dave, making him tense up. “Come here.” 

Dave listened, approaching the desk, the girl standing up curiously. “Feferi, this is Dave” Kanaya introduced “He’s actually meeting Kankri today, they are in a similar situation.” 

“Oh, no good! You know, we always have room for anybody who needs a safe place to live.” Feferi felt around, picking up a clipboard, pushing it towards Dave. “Even our famous patrons!” 

“Ah- No, no, it’s not like that” Dave chuckled awkwardly, pushing the board away. Sometimes he forgot people just knew him, based on appearance and sometimes first name, and it made him very uncomfortable. “Just coming to visit.” 

“Oh, of course! Offer always stands.” She smiled, sliding the application back under the table. As she leaned down, the front door opened again, and the chatter that came with Aradia, Sollux, and Eridan wherever they went, entered the lobby. 

Dave looked behind him, Vriska and Rose having their own conversation and moving out of the way, letting the three new group members push to the desk. Feferi lifted her head, eyes widening even further as she saw them, a big open mouthed smile on her face. She was very expressive. “Eridan! Sollux.” She greeted both the boys, and Aradia stood uncomfortably as if she expected one too, but never got it. The small girl looked up at Dave with a shrug. 

“Hey Fef” Eridan waved nonchalantly, and Sollux just nodded at her. “You want the rest of this?” 

The skinny boy put a cappuccino on the counter, but it looked like he hadn’t taken a drink of it at all. Feferi smiled and took it from him by the lid, swinging it underneath the desk and putting it somewhere that Dave could no longer see with an “Ooo.” 

“Thanks! You’re gonna kill yourself with all this caffeine, yaknow?” She joked, pushing that loose hair behind her ear again. In a few seconds it had slipped back out, and unbothered, she continued to tuck it. 

“blah blah, you gotta die from something, blah blah” He used his hand like a little mouth, Feferi smiling. 

“So, is Kankri ready for us?” Aradia butted in, Feferi's face wavering for only a second as she looked at her. It was a smile in no time, rolling her eyes playfully. 

“Oh my goodness, look at me! I completely forgot.” She sat back in her hot pink chair, wheeling forward, and up to her computer at the desk. As she typed, Dave noticed that her nails were done, the same bright pink that seemed to repeat itself all over her, from her eyeshadow to the colored yarn braided into her hair. It was a pretty color, and it did her a lot of favors. 

She clicked a few more keys and then picked up the phone, dialing a number and looked up at the group with a smile. She focused again when someone on the other end mumbled unintelligibly. 

“Hey Kankri! You’ve got visitors downstairs… Ahuh… ahuh… Yup!... 7 of em— Yeah 7…” She glanced up nervously at Eridan, who made grabby hands for the phone. “One second, Ahuh, yeah, here’s Eridan.” 

“Kankri, it’s all of us, and then Vriska and Dave. Yeah Dave came with us, yeah. Can we come up?.. Yeah all of us. Okay— Tell Feferi.” 

The phone was passed back, Feferi nodding with a few more “Ahuh”’s and then she hung up the phone with a pleasant goodbye. “Y’all are good to go, but I will have to ask those who are not immediate family to leave if Kankri gets antsy; It’s building policy.” 

“We know the drill, thanks Fef” Sollux finally spoke to her, Aradia holding his arm. The pretty girl smiled, suddenly distracted by the phone ringing. She picked up, and with a wave, the group migrated to the elevator.

Dave hadn’t really noticed how many of them there were until it was said allowed. He also felt it as they all forced their way into the elevator for one trip, giggling as they tried to get the door to close. Again, like a clown car, they all spilled out onto the floor that seemed to be Kankris. It was lit dimly, but not in a creepy way, in a very comfortable, homey, way. They walked down the hallway, Dave in the middle next to Vriska and Aradia, as Kanaya led the way. Kanaya must visit him a lot more, since Feferi implied that Kanaya was considered an immediate family. 

At the very end of the hallway, a door that faced the group, room number “069”, Kanaya stopped in front of it. The group was probably quieter than Dave had ever seen them as she raised her hand and knocked gently.

“Darling, it’s me.” 

It was a few seconds before the floorboards shifted, and the quiet patted footsteps of someone inside approached the door. The sound of one lock unlatching was obvious, and then a second, and a third… and then several more as the sound went lower and lower to the ground. Dave counted 7, but when he looked at Rose, she was holding up 9 fingers. 

The door creaked open, and a face poked out from the dark room. The man was hispanic, and asian, his hair was cut short and it looked like he did it himself, very nicely, but it was still obvious. He wore a dark red turtleneck that engulfed him, sleeves pulled up to his elbows, his skinny fingers holding the door. He had dark brown eyes, thick clumpy eyelashes, and a patch around his eyebrow was missing hair, the skin surrounding it obviously being actively picked at. 

This must be Kankri Vantas. 


	5. Sunday night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kankri finally shares his story and John agrees to hear Dave out but it’s already too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/TW: Implied sexual assault, mentions of grooming, mentions of child abuse, mentions of adult/minor relationships, rape/non-con, spit, belting, racist jokes, micro-aggressions, forced daddy kink, choking, misgendering. A joke is made towards the very end by another character that eludes to pedophilia. 
> 
> This chapter is very VERY dialogue heavy, especially towards the beginning. This chapter also contains a rape scene. 
> 
> It begins with the sentence “He felt his feet barley leave the ground...” and ends on “A knock on the door shook him to attention.” However, from the first quote to the end of the fic takes place at the rape scene. AS STATED BEFORE, all scenes like this will be explained as trigger free as possible in the end notes!

“Hello.” He spoke softly, but his voice was much deeper than Dave had expected, and his eyes darted around to check out everybody, stopping on Dave. The man shrunk back into his apartment, but leaving the door open, Kanaya entered. The others waited, before following her, so Dave was forced to as well. 

Going into the apartment, his eyes adjusted quickly, and the darkness was by design. Thick blackout curtains covered every window, only the smallest bit of sunlight creeping in between the two curtains in a tiny sliver, hitting the table and couch. The apartment had minimal furniture; A couch, a table, two chairs, a TV, two shelves, an armchair, and a knitted blanket over the back of the couch. The table had a cup on it, and as Kankri shrunk into the kitchen chair, he picked it up, bringing the steaming liquid to his face. His hands were terribly shaken, Dave could tell he wasn’t very welcome, but he felt more bad about invading what seemed to be a serious PTSD sufferers safe space. 

“Kankri, I swear you are gonna ruin your eyes if you don’t let some sunlight in” Kanaya spoke softly to him, entering the kitchen and grabbing the coffee pot, coming back and refilling his cup. He smiled up at her, and she pinched his nose. 

The group separated, flowing throughout the apartment to their designated spots. Aradia and Sollux sat on the couch, Rose taking the armchair and digging through his side table for knitting supplies, Eridan disappeared into the dark kitchen, but Vriska stood with Dave. 

“I like it like this,” He said, putting down his cup. 

“I know you do…” she sighed, pulling out the second chair and looking back at Dave, who was starting to get really uncomfortable with all the eyes on him today. “I’d love to keep talking about pleasantries, but you know why we’re here today.”

“Yeah…” his voice got softer, speaking into the cup.

“You know, you don’t ever have to talk about anything. We can just explain everything to Dave, but you know your first hand testimony helps a lot.” Kanaya weaned him like a baby animal, putting the tips of her fingers on the rim of the cup, pulling it down softly. 

“Of course, i’m happy to share my story. Whatever helps” He nodded, a bit more confidence in his tone. “Would you go and grab my organizer” He gestured towards one of the doors, which could be a bedroom or a bathroom. Dave assumes the former. Kanaya nodded, waving for Dave to come sit in the empty kitchen chair. He approached slowly, Vriska seconds behind him, Kankri watching his every step closely. 

Dave sat down, scooting in the chair, Kankri crossing his legs and forcing himself to put down his mug. 

“Hi… Dave” Kankri greeted him. 

“Hey” Dave nodded, averting his eyes down to the table. It felt inappropriate to stare at him. 

“Have they told you about Karkat yet?” He asked 

“Yes, un poco” He ruffled his hair 

“So you know he’s my brother.”

Dave nodded, awkwardly pulling on the arm of his shades. Would now be an inappropriate time to mention his parents? Probably. This guy was young, and if Dave was a few years older, he’d probably call him a kid. Kankri was probably only in his 20’s. 

Kanaya came back, a bright red folder in her hands, the tall woman leaning over the table and going through it, setting things out. Kankri watched silently, his face wavering in discomfort. 

“Maybe you should start from the beginning?” Kanaya suggested, creating a stack. 

“That’ll.. help it make more sense” Dave said, and Kankri glanced at him, nodding slowly. 

“It’s a lot” Kankri warned

“I've taken a lot already,” Dave assures him. 

Kankri readjusted himself, legs still crossed, pushing his cup away to seemingly not tempt himself. He was quiet for awhile, pulling the sleeves of his sweater over his hand, picking at the fraying fabric with his teeth as he built up the courage to start. 

“...Everything started when I was 16,

My dad lost his job, he had been laid off like 4 times, and they finally let him go. My mom was a seamstress but she never worked, and we had a few weeks to find a house or end up with no place to live. My dad had no option but to accept this job in California, and we all had no option but to move with him. All of us, except Karkat. A week before we left, he got accepted into this school program thing, man, he was so excited” Kankri smiled “He was really torn up about having to turn it down, but my mom surprised him and agreed to let him stay with our cousins, Kanaya’s family, until the program was done. So he stayed in Chicago, and we moved to California without him… 

We lived in this shitty neighborhood, but I was able to go to this nice school in the city because it was free, and my mom started nannying near it anyways. In my first week, I met and became really good friends with Kurloz Makara. He was a year older than me, and had a huge crush on my sister, and he was really upfront about that being the only reason he talked to me. But, after a while, we actually got along super well so me and him became friends too.” 

Kankri pulled on his sleeves, pushing them back down to his elbows. He was really tearing himself up, huh? I’m sure they could medicate him for that, especially since it seems like he’s picking himself apart, but something about this guy screams “I wouldn’t trust medication if I made the pills myself.”

“It wasn’t long, probably the first Christmas I knew him, that I met… the Grand one.” 

“The Grand one?” Dave asked, trying to focus on Kankri, but now he had everyone’s attention. 

“Aradia, did you forget to tell him?” Kanaya scolded 

“Hey, It’s a lot of information to tell an unwilling listener!” She defended herself, putting her arms up defensively. “It’s probably best Kankri tells him anyway.” 

“It’s fine” Kankri raised his voice, probably as loud as Dave had heard him yet “Kurloz’s father, the monster that ruined my life, that’s the Grand one.” 

“Oh, the Grand one is Ku-“ 

“Don’t call him by that name. I, just.. please don’t” Kankri interrupted him, almost desperately, and Dave immediately complied. He really didn’t want to end up on Kankris, or anyone in this room’s, bad side. 

“I’m sorry. The Grand one, why that?” Dave squinted 

“Let him get there, it’s best if we stay on track.” Kanaya suggested, and Dave had no obligation. He should probably save all further questions till the end, like Aradia said. 

“where was I… Oh, it was Christmas eve and I went over to Kurloz’s with my sister. It was the biggest, prettiest, most well decorated house I’d ever been in. We were both especially excited, because Christmas wasn’t really gonna happen at our house that year. I don’t even know how Kurloz’s father heard about that, but the next morning, we were invited back over, and the Grand one had bought both me and my sister gifts, even though we hadn’t had any the night before. It was… awesome. My parents were so grateful… 

And, the gifts just kept coming. I’d come over to his house and he would hand me things the Grand One had seen at the store that reminded him of me. He would leave money so my sister could get her nails done, he would buy me new clothes and things for school, and he even replaced my phone screen when Kurloz left it on top of my car and it shattered after I pulled out. I hardly knew him yet, and he did all this stuff for me. I thought he was so cool, so nice… 

“One afternoon, I had come over after work, and Kurloz wasn’t home yet. He had taken Gamzee to get dinner, and didn’t tell me, and the Grand one and me finally had our first real conversation. He was so charming, and funny, and I always thought he was so handsome. I told him how much I hated to work, and he asked me why I didn’t just quit. The Grand One was so… approachable, so I was just honest with him. I told him about how poor my family was, how they counted on me so my siblings could eat, and how I didn’t even get to keep any of the money. He told me that if I quit my job and started coming around the house, to help him out with things, he would pay me and… oh my god it was so much money. Way more than whatever I was making at fucking Burger King.” 

Kankri shook his head, rubbing his face and scratching at his mouth, ripping at the dead skin of his lip. “I started going over there everyday, but, he told me to tell my Mom and Dad that I was still working my normal job. I didn’t think that was a red flag at the time, but fuck, obviously I was pretty blinded by how completely unbelievable the oppritunity was. I would do all sorts of stuff for him, at first, but after a while it felt more like I was keeping him company. He would take me out to dinner, we would watch movies, we would go on walks, and he’d let me sit in his office chair that not even his sons were allowed to sit in and help him with phone calls and paperwork for his business. I felt… so special.” He admitted, bitterness radiating off of him.

“But, when I turned 17, my dad lost his job again. My mom couldn’t pay for anything with her job and we were fucked, again, and he was scrambling to find a job as fast as he could. All I had was the money Kurloz was giving me, and then we lost our house. We were homeless, and Karkat was supposed to come home in the next few weeks, and I finally told The Grand One that we were staying in a hotel… he called my parents and offered to have me, and my sister, stay with him instead. Just until my mom and dad found a place…” 

Kankri finally reached out for the organized piles Kanaya was making, Dave so completely entranced by the story, embarrassed to say he felt like he was watching a really cool murder mystery documentary. 

“One thing led to another, and soon my whole family lived with him. He paid for everything they needed, funneling money in and out of their accounts as he pleased, buying me gifts, spoiling Meulin. It felt like one of those unbelievable stories you hear, where people down on their luck meet a generous, rich, angel on earth and everything becomes a fairytale. It almost was, but, finally my mom had to test our luck and tell The Grand One that we had one more family member.” 

Kankri pulled out a picture, Dave only able to see the back, which was white and had pen scribbles in it that he couldn’t read. Kankri ran his thumb over the front with a sign, setting it down like it was gentle china, sliding it towards him. Taking the photo, Dave faced it towards him, pulling his shades down his nose so he could see it better in the dim room.

It was a picture of a boy, someone who looked just like Kankri, and a lot like the boy from the powerpoint. This must be Karkat. He was smiling, awkwardly, like he was being forced, and he was holding up a badge that was looped around his neck by a lanyard covered in buttons and pins. The badge was probably his employee tag for the program, his shaggy hair cute around his young face. He looked Dirks age, maybe even a little younger, but Dave would guess he was 12. 

“He was more than happy to invite another person in. Sam had just moved out, and we regurgitated every lie he told us about that back to the police so in a rare instance of our situation- He owed us.” 

Kankri took back the picture, furrowing his brows sadly as he looked down at it a final time, sliding it under the entire pile. Putting a hand back to his eyebrow, or what was left of it, he started picking. 

“Karkat was furious. He was not excited about moving in with a stranger, regardless of how rich he was, and he begged to stay with Kanaya until we found our own house. My dad promised something like that, but we all knew we weren’t going anywhere. Karkat finally agreed to come a whole month after he was meant to be home and, man, did things go sour really fast.” 

Kankri returned to his pile, pulling out a sheet of paper, still searching around as he continued. 

“I realized later that The Grand One had probably hoped Karkat would just be a smaller, cuter, sweeter… me, but Karkat, oh he was nothing like me.” Kankri said that with a fond smile, it was refreshing “Mean, selfish, nasty, he was all those things. He didn’t accept gifts, he didn’t say his please and thank you’s, and he definitely didn’t respond to any mind games. Grand one quickly lost his patience, and he wasn’t quiet about it either…” 

“But, there was one thing keeping him from getting rid of Karkat, even though now I know that’s what he really wanted, and it was Gamzee.” 

“Gamzee?” Dave asked, Kankri nodding, finally finding another picture and sliding it towards Dave with much less care. 

Picking it up, it was a polaroid, and the picture was of Karkat and Gamzee sitting shoulder to shoulder, both squeezed into the same patio chair, with a shared blanket over each of their shoulders. Karkat had a big smile on his face, this one more genuine, and Gamzee was playing dead, holding up two peace signs. It’s a cute picture, something you’d expect teenagers to take. They must be a little older in this, or for Gamzee, a little younger. Maybe around 13 or 14. 

“They were good friends, they hit it off right away, and he was the only person Karkat would spend any time with. Me and Meulin knew they liked each other, Karkat had the fattest crush on him, and we thought it was funny because he hated his family so much. Gamzee liked him back, Kurloz could tell us that much. It was… so much fun. We tried everything we could to get them together, but they were both too awkward to make the first move.” 

Kankri took the picture back. 

“But most importantly, Gamzee was the only thing keeping Karkat above ground.” 

“Did, ah, the Grand one really hate him that much? I can’t believe it, I mean I  _ Believe  _ you, but it’s so unexpected, from what I knew about him before.” Dave shook his head in disbelief, and now that he was finally buying into this whole mess, it was embarrassing to think that he fell for it. 

“Hate isn't a strong enough word for it. The Grand one had this thing, an obsession with making Karkats life as miserable as possible. Don’t get me wrong, all of us had to deal with these horrible nonsense rules, I mean, the pleasantries stopped all together, even towards me and Meulin. He stopped taking us to dinner, or out at all, and he put in place all these awful restrictions. None of us could make phone calls without him there, we couldn’t eat dinner, or any food, without him because he put locks on all the cabinets, and all of our outfits had to be approved by him, and most of the time he used it as an excuse to watch us undress…”

“But Karkat, he got the worst of it. Like, he couldn’t use any other bathrooms in the house besides the one inside the master bedroom, which belonged to the Grand one, but we all knew his bedroom door was locked, so everytime Karkat had to pee, or bathe, he’d have to ask permission. He used to make Gamzee drive him to the gas station to piss, but when The Grand one found out, he took away Gamzee’s car. Oh, and like I just said, Karkat wasn’t allowed to shower, he  _ had _ to take baths, everytime. Karkat wasn’t allowed to watch Tv, or have a phone, and he couldn’t even have his bedroom door closed. It was a nightmare.” 

“That's insane. Why didn’t your parents do anything about it? Weren’t they living there” Dave furrowed his eyebrows angrily, completely confused. 

“If they did anything: they enabled it. We couldn’t tell them what was going on because if there were any complaints they would shut us down, “egoísta” this, “desagradecido” that. The rules they could see they justified, and because the Grand one was giving them so much extra money, they went out all the time, and that just meant more alone time with us—” 

Kankri took a second, apologizing under his breath, and taking a drink of his coffee. He pushed back his hair, and Dave could see his hands tremble. Kankri asked Kanaya for a cigarette, and though she objected, she stood up to get one from his bedroom.

“We put up with his bullshit for 2 years, but it all changed once I turned 18. I think Karkat was… 14 When he finally told me he couldn’t put up with the bullshit anyone, and he needed to get out of there. He had stolen 90 dollars from our father and bought this shitty burner phone at a pawn shop one night with Gamzee, and he had texted Kanaya and planned to run away, and he wanted me to come with him. I was nervous to say yes at first, and I wanted to bring Meulin too. But, it was a lost cause. She was so wrapped around Kurloz's finger that if we told her, she’d definitely snitch on us and get us in trouble.” 

Kankri seemed scattered, his eyes dilated and he wasn’t really looking at anything, obviously finding it harder to speak the more he did. His lip quivered if he let it. Dave just wanted to stop him, but he didn’t know if cutting him off before he got it all out would be good or bad for him. 

“I agreed finally, it wasn’t easy but Karkat’s determination drove me. We set up an entire plan, times and where to meet, and how to get away through the backyard and over the fence. We were gonna leave the next night, leave all our shit behind, and just hide until we were covered up or forgotten about. But, It never got that far—“ Kankri finally choked, a sob escaping his throat.

It had been obvious he was holding back tears for a while, and he put the back of his hand to his mouth to silence himself. His eyes watered, and his breathing hitched, Kanaya finally coming back with a lit cigarette. Kankri took it from her, his eyes becoming insanely red in a matter of seconds as they grew irritated by his crying. He put the cigarette in his mouth, taking the longest drag Dave had ever watched, blowing it out with a satisfied sigh. “I’m sorry, just, give me a second.” 

“Don’t apologize, darling” Kanaya accepted the apology for Dave “You can stop, it’s okay.” 

“No I— you’ve gotta let me do it.” Kankri insisted, and Kanaya didn’t try to rebuttal. Dave felt so much pity and anger for Kankri, and it was hard to watch a grown man break down like this. Dave was an incredibly emotional guy, even if he held it in well, but he was never on the receiving end of a breakdown. Still, he offered Kankri unconditional patience. “That night, I asked to sleep with him, but he wanted to be alone. I went to bed… and not even a few hours later I was woken up, around 7am, and my mom was hysterical. When I came out to see what was going on they told me Karkat was gone—“ 

Kankri was crying as he continued, that whine and tremble in each word he spoke. Triggering himself over and over again was probably terrible for his mental health, but he seemed pretty dead set on continuing. 

“I thought at first that he had just left me, that he couldn’t wait, and fuck, I always thought he was so selfish, I thought he just left me— but…It took 2 weeks and my parents' whole attitude shifted. After 3 search parties, one police report, and a 4 hour amber alert, they declared him  **_dead_ ** . They buried a casket full of his shoes-” Kankri broke with a cry, and if he was trying to say words, they were completely lost in his tears. He squeezed the cigarette between his fingers, looking past Dave and at nothing as his chest trembled and tears ran down his face, trying to line up the cigarette to his mouth. 

Dave put out a hand to put on his arm, to comfort him, but Kankri flinched away from the touch. Dave frowned, feeling Kanaya stand and walk around the table to him. He didn’t shy away from her, letting Kanaya hold him and soothe him quietly. 

Aradia stood up, coming to Dave and gently taking the folder away from Kankri. She opened it, pulling out a flimsy looking newspaper, and placing down a few more clippings held together with a paperclip. 

“This was the extent of Karkats media coverage.” 

It was a newspaper, as he assumed, with a picture of Karkat in black and white. It was a eulogy, some kind words of remembrance, his name, age, and even a quote from their father. Done up in the paperclip was a small newspaper article, the size of an ad, that reported him going missing. Alongside that was a wrinkled funeral pamphlet, and finally a final text transcript that went unanswered of Kanaya begging to be contacted about Karkats whereabouts, because she had seen a news story about his disappearance. It was insane to see such a harrowing set of evidence. 

“He.. he’s not dead! I know he can’t be dead, not after all of this” Kankri was gasping for breaths, hardly able to speak as he hyperventilated, muffled against Kanaya's chest. He was shaking so hard Dave could mistake it for shivering, and he fingers clawed at his own skin sporadically. He was surprised Kanaya would even let Kankri talk about this, especially when this reaction seemed anticipated. “He’s being hidden somewhere, por favor, he’s gotta be somewhere“ 

“That’s enough, Kankri, please” Kanaya took the cigarette from his hand and tapped off the ash “You'll only make yourself more upset.”

Kankri took the cigarette back, putting it in his mouth again and dragging it until his mouth was clearly filled with smoke. The room fell silent, all besides Kankris quiet sobbing and Kanaya’s words of comfort that she whispered to him. The tall woman had crouched down, saying some words of affirmation that she insisted Kankri repeat. Something along the lines of “You are safe now…” followed by a quiet “I am safe now…”

Everyone had gone back to whatever they were doing, even Dave averting his eyes to look down at the picture of Karkat again. Only 14… and all this terrible shit he had to deal with. 

Kankri's crying slowly stopped, and his breathing steadied as Kanaya rubbed his face, and in turn, the tears from his cheeks. He put the cigarette down against the table and it was absolutely slammed, almost down to the butt, and Dave would say he was impressed if cigarettes weren’t so gross. 

Kanaya stood up, reluctant to leave him, Kankri bringing up his hand and pulling hers away. She stepped back, looking at Dave, who was still trying to give Kankri some privacy by not looking at him. Dave knew panic attacks well, and he knew how embarrassed he felt when everyone stared at him before, while, and after they happened. He did end up looking back at Kankri when he snuffed the cigarette with his palm, Kanaya scolding him for doing it against the table. When he smiled softly at her, Dave felt comfortable speaking again. 

“Thank you Kankri, thank you so much for sharing your story with me” Dave sighed as he looked at all of the newspaper clippings “I… I think I will call John about all of this. Maybe we can get him out of there before he ends up… like this.” 

Aradia gasped with delight, completely tone deaf, as she hugged around his shoulders. “Yes! Oh my god, thank you! Maybe we save him after all!” 

His phone suddenly vibrated between his butt and the wooden chair, surprising him as he fished it out. Everyone was looking at him, Dave remembering Vriska as she leaned against his head. He picked up the phone and faced it towards him, delighted to see that Jake’s grandfather was calling him. 

He stood up, excusing himself and backing up by the door. Everyone was still watching him, like this was an important call, but he answered awkwardly. 

“Hello?” 

“Dave! Good morning, I got your voicemail! Is everything okay?” 

“Oh, uhh, yeah everything is okay. Just some shi- stuff happened with my distant… family, and I had to leave town pretty short notice- um-“ 

“Well, i’m sorry to hear that.” 

“Um- it’s okay! Don’t worry too much over it but, uh, I actually really needed to ask a favor of you. I completely understand if it’s super inconvenient, but”

“I’m not your dad, kiddo, you can talk to me honestly!”

“Ah, haha, yeah” Dave rubbed his neck, and Vriska chuckled at his awkwardness “It’s just that, I don’t know if I’ll be back in town tonight, and I can’t have Dirk home by himself over night and-“

“Oh, Dave that’s not even a question! Of course Dirk can stay another night. That is what you mean, right?” 

“Yeah! Man, thank you so much. I’ll really owe you next time, okay?”

“Oh no talk of that, Dirk is delightful, I’m sure they’ll be excited about it too. They never get to do anything like that” Grandpa had such a deep, posh, accent and it drove Dave a little stir crazy. 

“Thank you so much, Jakob, please just call me if you need anything, okay? I’ll be back in time to get him tomorrow, don’t worry.” 

“Never a worry with that little angel in my house. Please, take care of what you need to.” 

“Yeah, for sure.” 

Dave never really got a goodbye from Grandpa, and the call ended. His relief was through the roof, and he was glad Dirk had picked a friend with such an understanding guardian. 

“Dirk is never gonna believe him” Vriska laughed “When’s the last time you let him stay anywhere more than one night?” 

“Hey, he stayed there that weekend when I was in Florida, so it’s not like it’s the first time.” Dave rebutted, Vriska keeping that cheeky smile on her face. 

“Florida, that sounds fun” Rose spoke up, and Dave noticed that in her comfortable knitting spot, she was about halfway through a scarf. There was no way she did that all just now, right? 

“Not really, Tavros Nitram is a real nightmare to work with on a set” Dave smiled, and it was almost nice to talk to her casually. Not that he really liked her, yet.

“If you keep knitting him scarfs he’s gonna be set for the next 60 winters of his life” Kanaya turned to Rose, who looked up at her with a smile. 

“So i’ll make sure he’s prepared for the next 70, he’s gotta wear them all at least once, honey” Rose continued to knit, and the two continued to bicker playfully. “I mean, Eridan wears his all the time.” 

“It’s remarkably comfortable” Eridan agreed, kicking Sollux in the leg, where he had joined them on the couch “Now if you could only get Sollux to wear his.” 

“I appreciate the hard work, but not a chance” Sollux shook his head, Aradia pulling a knitting needle from the basket and jabbing him with it. 

He wondered if he’d maybe get a scarf some day, looking over at Kankri, who was silently picking up the table. Dave watched him pull the newspaper into his hand, brushing over Karkats face with his fingers. It was a kind of pain Dave couldn’t relate to, and he couldn’t even start to understand what it must be like to live with such torture everyday. Karkat had a sweet face, and even if he sounded like a little bit of a turd, Kankri obviously loved him very, very, much. 

Kankri folded it up, reorganizing everything back into the paperclip, before sliding it into the folder. He pushed back his black hair, sliding the folder to the middle of the table. 

“When are you gonna call John?” He asked, looking Dave in the eyes. He really hoped Kankri hadn’t noticed him staring. 

“Whenever, really,” Dave assured “I just don’t know if he’s awake. If I ask him to meet, where should he go?”

“My apartment, probably” Rose offered, a hand to her chest. “It’s only about a half hour from him, so, it shouldn’t be a big deal right?” 

“I don’t think so, but I guess that’s up to him.” Dave said “Should I just call him now?”

“How about we get something to eat, and then we worry about it” Kanaya offered, gesturing quietly in Kankri's direction. Whether she was suggesting they give him a break, or suggesting he should eat, it was probably safe to bet he needed both. 

Dave agreed, putting his phone back in his pocket, and looking behind himself at Vriska. “What do y’all want?” 

But John didn’t get a call until that evening. In Fact John was eating too, although he was eating his meal towards midday, in the comforts of his multi million dollar mansion, alone. It wasn’t unusual for him to eat alone, because Kurloz hardly ever assed to be home in the afternoon. Sure, he said he was working, but John hardly ever saw him work anywhere but from home. 

It was best not to question where he went on those vague errands of his, because John was sure it was some shady capitalist shit he didn’t need to know about. He pushed the food around on his plate with the prongs of his fork, leaning on his hand in boredom. 

The house was hardly any fun for how much stuff there was to do in it, most of which he couldn't even do alone. He had no ideas for any new jokes, and looking around the dull white interior of the house, he didn’t have many sources of inspiration. The only spot of color in the entire house was Gamzee's acid trip of a bedroom, but he always felt so awkward bothering his sons. Gamzee was shy, and Kurloz Jr wasn’t much of a talker, and overall he felt very unwelcome without Kurloz around, anyways. 

He could hear Nepeta squeal far off in the house, followed by a laugh, and running around. It was the only noise he could preoccupy himself with, because Kurloz had hid the remotes from Equius and now John couldn’t find them to turn on the tv. Sometimes, he felt like Kurloz was hiding everything from  _ him _ . 

He brought a bite of food up to his lips, but he didn’t have the appetite to open his mouth and finish it, dropping the fork back against the plate. Sliding out his chair, he took the plate back to the kitchen, his sock feet still cold against the hardwood floor. Around the corner, he slid the plate into the sink and washed off his hands, sighing as he now had literally nothing to do. John looked at the ceiling as he heard more running, knowing he could probably bother Maria. 

She seemed to enjoy his company. 

John took to the stairs, rounding the railing just as Nepeta zipped past him, looking up at him with wide eyes as she decided hiding behind him would be the perfect hiding spot. John twisted around to look at her, and back down the hallway as her father came chasing after her, a shiteating grin on his face. Nepeta screamed, running down the stairs, taking extra precaution on each step. Seung ran past John and waited at the top of the stairs for Nepeta to reach the bottom, partly because Nepeta was quite slow, and also probably because he needed to catch his breath. 

“안녕!” He said happily, waving

“야!” John responded with a smile. 

Seung laughed at his heavy breathing before chasing after her again. He watched the little girl squeal and book it, her father swinging around the corner and disappearing into the house. 

John smiled as they ran away, continuing down the hallway towards their bedroom. It was a wide open space, with a large window at the end, letting in lots of natural lighting. He knew the door would be opened, but he knocked anyways, pushing the door open once he was greeted by Maria’s soft voice.

“¡Hola niño! What are you doing?” She mewled happily, looking up from the laundry she was folding. This woman cleaned like a motherfucker, and John had a feeling she got just as bored as he did sometimes. 

“Literally nothing, i’m so bored” He laughed 

“Oh, so you came to bother me huh? ¡Sólo estoy jodiendo contigo! Wanna help me fold laundry?” She teased, but John wasn’t sure what she said. He was smart enough to assume she was “Just Kidding.” 

“Nothing better to do” He went around the other side of the bed, picking up the little pink and green dresses that belonged to Nepeta, Maria teaching him how to fold them the best way. It was simple and he got it down fast. “I can’t believe she goes through so much clothing.” 

“Have you seen the way she eats?” Maria laughed “Tan descuidada, my messy baby, I’m surprised she doesn’t go through more” 

“Good point” John chuckled, fiddling with her tiny socks to get them to roll into each other. 

“I’m a little surprised your home, niño, I thought you left with Kurloz?” 

“No, I wish. He didn’t “want me coming with.”” John did air quotes, rolling his eyes. “I'm sure he’s got some bullshit reason for it. I don’t ever ask, regardless.” 

“Are you feeling okay?” She asked, surprising him. 

“Yes, i’m feeling fine. Are you feeling okay?”

“Ah, haha, yes! You just seem angry” She shrugged 

“Oh i’m not angry, just kinda annoyed” John was honest with her “I just hate when he treats me like an oversized accessory. He only seems to like to take me places where I can make him look good.” 

“I wouldn’t wanna go on aburrido business drives anyway!” Maria insisted

“You’ve got a good point” John looked down, moving his little stack back into the clean clothes basket. He only got that far when a firm knock rattled the door, making both of them look up. The door pushed open completely and Horrus was looming in the doorway, and John immediately recognized the familiar ringing of his phone in the big man's hand. He perked up, walking over to him, having to crane his neck completely to look up at his face. 

Horrus made John incredibly uncomfortable, especially when Kurloz wasn’t around. The dead look he gave you, with a sweaty forehead and labored breathing, always flexing. Horrus was handsome, sure, if ultimately just not John’s type. He did like his long pretty hair, and how gentle he got with his son. It was a sweet side to the gentle giant. 

“You are getting a phone call” His deep voice rumbled through his chest, and if John was any closer to him, he probably would have felt it. 

“I heard that much,” John teased, and Horrus’ mouth wavered a bit before he handed John his ringing phone. God, those hands were big, they almost completely swallowed his phone between them. “I’ll be right back, Maria” he promised, the woman telling him to take his time. 

As John turned back around to leave, he looked down at the call, sliding to answer before reading the name. He expected Kurloz, or his manager, but, No! It was Dave! John lit up pleasantly, cracking Maria’s door. He watched Horrus venture back down the hallway, slowly descending the stairs. Weird guy. 

“‘Ello” John answered, turning and pressing his back into the glass of the window, facing the stairs. 

“Hey, John” that familiar voice made John smile wider, a genuine smile, even if he did sound a lot different on the phone. “Man, what are you up to?” 

“Folding laundry, why?” He answered, turning to look out the window. It was a really nice day out, with lots of sunlight and breeze, the trees swaying. It was the hottest part of the day, and it was barley 70 out! 

“Laundry? Didn’t take you as a laundry guy” John could hear Dave chuckle, and it made him heat up. 

“What do you mean! I’m  _ thee _ laundry guy” John smiled, as if Dave could see him, pushing his tongue against his teeth. “Did you call to talk about laundry?” 

“Unfortunately, no, but I’ll add that to the topic list” Dave said “I actually called about something, uh, kinda serious? Like, are you free to come see me?” 

“Oh, something serious? Is everything okay?” John perked up, standing up straight and facing forward again. He paced idly as he listened. 

“... Ah, I, just, are you free?” Dave stuttered and John frowned, turning back around as he reached the stairs on his little walk. 

“I mean, yeah pretty much, but I’m gonna be real and admit you're making me nervous” John laughed awkwardly, and he got an echo back from Dave. 

“Yeah, i’m sorry” He said “I’m weird over the phone.” 

“So i’ve learned,” John teased, blushing again. “I’ll come meet you, where though?” 

“I’ll send you the address, it’s my sister’s place.” John was shocked to hear him say that, because John was sure Dave only had one super deadbeat sister, like abandoning babies deadbeat sort of sister. 

“Oh! Sister?” He said what was on his mind, per usual.

“Yeah, I'll explain everything when I see you, okay?” Dave asked, and John was comfortable to trust him.

“Sure, okay” John nodded “This better be good, Dave!” He warned playfully, getting a nervous laugh from the other end. “I’ll leave soon, gotta wait for Kurloz so I can get ma’ keys.” 

“Take your time.” Dave assured

“Okay, Looove you” John teased, putting extra infliction on every O. 

“Ah, ahah, I love you too” Dave laughed. 

John quickly pulled the phone from his ear, beating Dave to hang up. John wasn’t sure if Dave had caught on to their little race yet, but he would. Overall, John was completely unsure what was going on, and he wasn’t all that excited to find out. He trusted Dave, maybe a little too much, but he already agreed to go. 

He slid his phone in his pocket, pushing the door back open, and Maria was quietly folding laundry still. She glanced up, smiling. “Who was it?” 

“Ah, it was Dave,” John told her “Wants me to meet him at his sister's place, something semi-serious I guess.” 

He watched Maria’s face get stern, looking down at her hands as her folding got sloppier. John furrowed his eyebrows, approaching the bed and picking up the dress he had left in a bundle.

“What’s up?” He asked

“You know you aren’t supposed to be with Dave alone” She reminded him, and John rolled his eyes harder then he had probably ever rolled them. 

“Oh my god, Maria. I’m a grown man, he’s not gonna apply rules to me like I'm a teenager.” John shook his head, completely serious for once. It always irked him how Kurloz assumed he could make up any rule or preference and John would blindly follow each and every one, all while sucking his dick, too. 

But her face didn’t waver, and it seemed more like concern than anger. “Ah, niño I know how it can feel, but you really should listen to him. I don’t want you to get in trouble.” 

“Maria, he’s not my dad” John shook his head “He can’t just decide what I do when I do it, not even my real dad could get me to do anything he said. I’m sorry that he’s afraid i’m having sex with the only other person he lets me talk to!” 

The sudden outburst seemed to upset her, and she looked down, folding her laundry angrily. John wouldn’t relent, though, he wouldn’t apologize for being right. Maria didn’t even understand it, because Seung did everything  _ she  _ said at the drop of a hat. He probably shouldn’t have raised his voice at her, though. 

“I’m just looking out for you, John” She folded the last tiny shirt, putting it back in the basket and looking up at him with a half smile “My Karkat, he used to tell me everyday how much I was ruining his life. I see a lot of him in you, I just want the best for you…” 

John now felt incredibly guilty, he always did whenever he heard her son's name. It was even worse when she compared the two, but overall kind of sweet. John never knew his mom, so it was comforting. 

“I know… i’m sorry” John rubbed his face “He’s just been getting on my nerves so much lately!” 

“Trust me, I understand” She giggled, putting the basket on her hip and leaving the room, waiting for John to follow like a baby duck. He did, following her almost in sync. “He can be so bossy.” 

“He’s a control freak!” John laughed, following her from the stairs and through the living room, around the corner to Nepetas bedroom. It was so precious, and surprisingly clean. “I probably can’t even tell him what i’m doing when I ask for the key… how stupid…” 

“I don’t think you should, at least tonight” Maria warned again, pulling open the drawer and putting her clothes away “Plus, he’s been working all day! Probably gonna be muy gruñón when he gets home, yaknow?” 

“I don’t know, I already told him I’d come” John shrugged, picking up the cute knitted doll on her dresser “It seemed important to him, and he’s my friend, so I should probably go.” 

“Seems like a bad idea” She shook her head, closing the drawer as all the clothes had been put away.

“Maybe” John shrugged with a smile. 

John turned to see Nepeta wip passed the door at full speed, now not being chased, as her dad walked casually passed the door and after her. He heard her little hands smack on the window, and a rumble of a car engine. 

“Oh! He’s home-“ He left the room, looking back to see Maria looking away from him, and down at the floor. He didn't wait up for her, leaving the room to see Nepeta shreking happily, pounding her hands on the glass. His boyfriend, Kurloz, waved at her as he made his way to the door, scooping her up as he came in, giving her a kiss on the cheek. The little girl laughed delightfully, but wiped her cheek like she was freeing herself from the cooties. He passed her to Seung with one arm, dropping the car keys with a satisfying sound on the side table. Johnny approached him too.

“You just been sitting around waiting for me?” Kurloz asked him, fixing his belt. 

“No! As if. I’ve been working” John laughed, watching Seung carry Nepeta into her room, holding the toddler upside down to make her laugh. 

“I’d hardly call what you do work,” Kurloz rolled his eyes, and John’s expression wavered. Rude, okay. He hated when Kurloz joked like that, but he had to get over himself.

“Um, anyways, I had a question” John shot him down, not really interested in humoring him right now.“Can I please borrow the car for a little bit?” 

“Why?” Kurloz scrunched his eyebrow, reaching over and fixing the hair on top of John's head. 

“Cause I asked nicely and it’s my car too” John answered crudely, smiling at Kurloz as he reached over to grab them. Kurloz shot out his hand, blocking John, who frowned. 

“I’ll drive you then.” Kurloz offered, picking up the keys himself. It pissed him off how hard he made this, and John knew it was just to see how many things Kurloz could get John to agree to, but it wasn’t cute right now. 

“Oh my god” John felt like a teenager trying to take out the family car “I kinda just wanna go alone, it won’t be long, just like an hour or two?” 

“Why do you need to go alone?” 

“Because I want to? Cmon” John grumbled, putting his hand over Kurloz’s hand. 

“...” Kurloz audibly grinded his teeth “Fine.” 

“Thanks!” John slipped his hand underneath Kurloz’s, which had been lifted for his convenience, slipping the keys into his palm. “I won’t be long, baby, okay?” 

John looked around for his shoes, but couldn’t exactly find any. He furrowed his eyebrows, turning around and back up the stairs to their bedroom, to retrieve his missing sneakers. They must’ve been put up here by Kurloz, because he always took them off at the door. Kurloz watched him the entire way up with narrow eyes, and then he watched as Kurloz turned and headed towards what seemed like Nepeta’s room, probably to check up on the three of them. 

He looked on the floor of the room, making his way to the closet, where they inevitably were. He turned on the light and walked in, looking up and scanning the top shelf that went all the way around the closet, finding it on the left wall. They were the only pair of his lined up in the middle of Kurloz’s and he grabbed them both by the back and stepped out. 

Backing up, he sat on the bed, slipping on the shoes and lacing them up. Midway through the right foot, the keys in his fist, Kurloz entered the room. 

“Where  **_are_ ** you going?” 

“Huh?” John looked up, immediately aware that something was wrong “Is everything okay?” 

“Why won’t you tell me?” He ignored him, the question feeling more like an accusation. The pit in his stomach was heavier than a bowling ball, and he wasn’t sure if honesty was the best policy right now. 

“Does it matter?” He answered, Kurloz stepping into the room and closing the door, John putting down his foot as Kurloz calmly reached behind himself and locked the door. 

John was confused, smiling as a nervous response. He pushed himself up by the bed frame. Kurloz didn’t move any closer, but that unfamiliar look he was giving him made John feel suspiciously like prey. The grip he had on the keys in his hand betrayed his anxiety, and he followed Kurloz’s eyes who had just noticed it too. 

“If it’s nothing bad, why can’t I come with you?” 

“Maybe I just want to go alone? I never do anything alone, it’s not a big deal” John whined, not willing to give himself up yet. He knew he was making himself seem more suspicious, but he wasn’t doing what Kurloz assumed of him, and there was nothing he could do to convince him otherwise. “Come on, you’re being weird, let me leave so we can stop arguing.” 

Kurloz looked him up and down “Do you think i’m stupid?” it seemed like a genuine question, but all John could do was shake his head no. “Come here.” 

“What? You’re making me uncomfortable, Kurloz.” John insisted, refusing to move. At the refusal, Kurloz pushed himself off the door, walking to John with tall strides. John instinctively backed up, almost tripping as his leg hit the end of the bed. He had barely moved when Kurloz caught up to him, stretching his big arm around his head and gripping the hair on the back of his head, John tensing up like a baby cat being held by the scruff. The fear in his stomach was overwhelming because Kurloz had never acted like this before. 

He felt his feet barely leave the ground, a sharp pain in his scalp, before he was thrown to the ground like a rag doll. His head hit the carpet hard, which didn’t hurt very much, but landing flat on his back did knock the wind out of him. John wheezed, completely disoriented in fear. John pulled his knees up, trying to catch his breath. He didn’t have time to react when Kurloz put his booted foot between his legs, and his thigh was pushed open and against the ground with a vicious stomp. John flinched, trying to sit up, the realization booting up like a 1999’ desktop computer. 

“Dave? Really, after all the warnings i’ve given you” Kurloz finally revealed the secret neither of them were keeping, John finally sitting up, trying desperately to pull his thigh from under his weight, because it was starting to actually hurt. “Do you never quit?”

“What the fuck are you doin—Get the fuck off of me!” John shouted, leaning back and kicking Kurloz as hard as he could with his other leg. It backfired, Kurloz grabbing his ankle and ripping it towards him, John ending on his back again with an “oof!” 

“I should’ve known you’d ever get better, motherfucker” Kurloz spit, pushing his thighs open with a bit more dominance this time, but John found nothing about this situation arousing. Was this supposed to be arousing? Because it wasn’t. John whined, gripping the carpet and trying to pull himself away, but Kurloz only followed as he made no haste. “Was one not enough? Is that the only way anyone will give a loose bitch like you attention?”

“What the  _ fuck _ is wrong with you?” John had a look on his face that disgust couldn’t describe, raising in volume to get his point acrossed “You are gonna get the fuck off of me, I’m getting in that car, and i’m fucking leavin—“ 

John didn’t even feel it when the bottom of Kurloz’ boot collided with his face, knocking his head back with enough power that John was surprised his neck didn’t snap with the kickback. His glasses flew off his face, and he heard them smack against the dresser, the real glass of the designer things likely just as shattered as his trust. The pain hit him after his head hit the ground, for the second time, exploding from his nose and moved like a sonar of heat throughout his face and sent a chill down his spine. The cry of pain came after, blood coming out of his nose in a gush and straight into his mouth as he tried to lift his head, but it pinwheeled, and he laid it back against the floor almost instantly. 

“You have no idea how much I worked on you. I set all these rules, did what was best for you, tried to fix you, you fucking rat” Kurloz stepped between his thighs, dropping to his knees in Johns vulnerablity, putting a hand under one of his knees and forcing his legs apart further. These jeans were not forgiving, refusing to stretch anymore.

Kurloz pushed John up by his leg like a baby, raising his butt off the ground, grabbing the back belt loop and ripping them up over his butt. John cried in opposition, but the dizzy spell stopped him from acting. “I know what you do isn’t motherfucking subconscious, brother, I see the way you smile and light up when you are granted temporary attention. Every mannerism of yours is meant to make people want to have sex with you, i’ve seen you do it on stage, with your friends, with me. You attention seeking slut, you know every person in the room wants to fuck you. You crave that temporary delight, you were too blind, too impatient to accept my eternal devotion. Is that what you did to Dave? Did you trap him with your miracle magic, babe? And now he’s all up in motherfucking trouble because he’s the goalie in your dick jockey game.” 

“What the fuck are you saying” John sobbed, reaching down and desperately trying to pull his pants back on, arching his back and wiggling around to try and continually set himself free, but his strength was no match for that of his… boyfriend. Oh god, this was his boyfriend. Oh my god, what was happening? John is so scared, so afraid, and as his jeans traveled up his legs he knew exactly what was happening. And in that moment, he became acutely aware of the keys still clenched in his fist. He fumbled to flip them around, trying to slide the key through his fingers like a teenage girl walking to her car after the night shift alone.

“You really do think i’m stupid, don’t you?” Kurloz asked again, ripping the jeans down far enough that he could force John's legs over his head, essentially trapping the two of them in the missionary position. This made John kick it, thrashing around wildly and screaming, trying to tuck his ass away, but without the help of his legs he was screwed. Especially when Kurloz grabbed his hips, forcing him flat. “You don’t think I watch as you look at him with those sultry blue eyes, rat bitch, you don’t think i know that when you go over to that fucking shitty apartment in the city he fucks you on the couch like the inexpensive whore you are? I’m so sick of your shit.” 

“I don’t sleep with him!” John cried, hoping to say anything to get Kurloz away from him. It was true, he hasn’t slept with Dave. Did he want to? Yes. Did he? No. He wasn’t lying, oh my god he wasn’t lying. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you mad, please, I Don't sleep with him.” John continued to sob, trying to turn so he could crawl away, but his legs were trapped. John desperately tried to toe his shoes off so he could shake off the jeans, but he had tied them too tight. 

“I don’t know why you're freaking out, motherfucker, did you forget you’ve taken my motherfucking dick more times then you can count? Did you suddenly forget how you beg me to fuck you every night, magic man, did you forget?” Kurloz tormented, undoing his belt and ripping it out with a crack, putting it besides them, fumbling to get his own dick out. John didn’t want to look down, wearing his favorite Scream 2 boxers, wanting to be able to wear them again after this. 

“I don’t want you to! Please, I'm sorry, no more I’m sorry! Please, please” John begged, embarrassed that he was crying like a baby. God he felt like such an idiot, half sure Kurloz was just doing this to either embarrass John, or get his rocks off. He never cared much for John's expense anyways. 

“You should’ve just listened, didn’t daddy ever tell you that if you were sorry, you wouldn’t have done it? It’s not your fault, it’s just the way you were born” Kurloz lamented, John digging his heels into Kurloz’ back, dragging the rubber into his spine. It didn’t seem to stop him as he pulled himself out completely, jacking himself against the plush inside of John's thigh. “Really, I mean it. You were born perfect, but not even I could bring you to salvation. You were damned to hell from the start, because nobody as fuckable as you could stay away from the tempting fires. Do you regret it?” 

“Regret what?” John cried, breathing so fast he was getting lightheaded, which reminded him of the pain in his face. “You are on  _ drugs _ , please tell me you are on drugs or something—“ 

“The playing dumb act is getting old, just own up, be the motherfucking whore you know you are, and take my cock as good as you always do” Kurloz barked, pushing Johns ass off the ground again, pulling one cheek apart with ease, lining up his dick, dry, against his completely tense and unwilling asshole. John didn't make it easy, shaking his ass around desperately to knock him off, but the grip Kurloz had on his hip bone was gnarly. 

The push was unresponsive as his ass completely refused to let him in, because god, John knew how big he was. It was a dick John hadn’t been able to take without 15 minutes of prep, lube, and at least a little bit of excitement to take it. John couldn’t be in a worse state of mind right now, and worst of all, he couldn’t even see. He groaned as Kurloz angrily pushed the tip of his thumb in, pulling him open with no patience. The sting was uncomfortable, but nothing John couldn’t handle. It was when the dick finally started pushing its way in that John opened his lungs. 

If Maria, Seung, or even Horrus hadn’t heard him yet, then they certainly did now. He screamed bloody murder, each scream followed by a relentless sob, fighting harder then he ever had to start. It was a rough battle, Kurloz having to fuck the head in like a monster, the stretch completely unnatural. “MARRRIAAA” John screamed, slamming his fists into the ground. 

“She’s not listening, you dumbfuck. Nobody in this motherfucking house is on your side, you are completely alone, baby. Do you see what denying the divine right has done to you?” Kurloz promised, a deep and ugly laugh coming straight from his sternum. John screamed even louder, getting exhausted as his crying took over. The worst part wasn’t even over, because Kurloz only got thicker the farther down he got, and the fear was worse then anything he’d ever experienced. 

The rough thrust of every half inch sliding in and out deeper and deeper made John never want to have sex again, sure his ass was ripping in half. What did he do? What changed? Why did he even ask. He wondered, if he closed his eyes hard enough, he’d open his eyes in the hallway again. He’d hang up on Dave, do the laundry, and greet Kurloz with a kiss instead of a question. Where would he be right now if he wasn’t such a stubborn asshole. Could this be all his fault?

He was knocked from his dissociation as Kurloz grunted, pulling both of his ass cheeks apart and leaning back a little, spitting on him with a gross sound. Oh god, John hated spit, and he flinched, succeeding in freeing himself of a few inches. In the moment, he gripped his fist around the keys again, and his eyes shot open. Without putting a single thought into it, he swung at Kurloz and hit him with the side of his fist, and successfully, the engine key. It sliced into his cheek, John didn’t let go of the key, trying to wip back but his wrist was grabbed. 

John looked into Kurloz’ eyes for the first time since everything started, and they weren’t the sweet eyes he used to know. The milky brown eyes that looked pretty in the sun, that looked freckled with gold leaf. They were dark, almost black, and mean like John didn’t know mean like that. The slice in his cheek was dripping and Kurloz but a hand up to touch it, pulling his fingers down to look at it. John stopped staring and thrashed his arm around, but it wasn’t coming loose. 

Kurloz gripped his wrist tighter, hurting the bones, and dug between his fingers to free the keys in a cruel claw. John let go willingly as his last few fingers were finally pried open, and Kurloz flung the keys across the room, and John heard them hit the wall. 

“I can’t” John sobbed it out, hiccuping between each “an’t” he drug out. It was all just primal fear he had left, his head spinning. “Please, I can’t, I’m so scared.” 

“You haven’t even gotten started, John” Kurloz said, and something about the use of his name finally made everything as real as John was refusing it was. The scream he let out was the last one he was gonna be allowed to, Kurloz grabbing his hair again to lift his head off the ground, John forced to look at his stomach. It was the only thing not blurry, that, and the softness of his hipbone being bruised from the manhandling. He didn’t want to do this anymore, he would even forgive Kurloz if it meant this would stop, but he knew Kurloz always kept his word. 

He heard Kurloz’s belt buckle, and his hand moved in a blur to ball up the leather belt into the perfect shape. Kurloz ripped John's head back, forcing him to look up, before he brought down the belt and slashed it across his face. The loud whip of the leather mixed with the collision with his jaw bone was a nasty sound, but what was worse was the cry John let out.

It was pure agony, like kicking a dog. It came back almost instantly, Kurloz beating the belt into John’s face until his teeth ached, and what was worse is that John couldn’t even move with each smack. He knew he was gonna be beat until he stopped crying, so almost instantly, the only noises that left John were involuntary yelps of pain. He had only been hit like 5 times, but it felt like 15, and Kurloz threw one more in with cruel laugh, John shaking with tears. 

John was dumb to think that was all, Kurloz unraveling the belt and ripping Johns head up violently again, wrapping the leather around his neck. Kurloz looped the belt on the smallest setting to fit comfortably around his neck, and then he grabbed the strap and pulled as hard as he could. Suddenly, all at once, John couldn’t breathe. It was a shocking weight on his esophagus, and he didn’t even get one last gasp in before he choked and shook for air. 

He could feel the rest of Kurloz slide in with no resistance, because as his head got heavy and his brain felt like it was floating in air, the pain in his face and ass and hips and shoulders all fell away because he wasn’t sure he was awake anymore. Nothing could get more blurry, because he already couldn’t see, and he was too far away to see Kurloz anyway.

John liked it like that, when he couldn’t see. Maybe, in some dark way, he could pretend this was someone he hadn’t trusted. A criminal on the street, a crazed fan breaking into his house, or maybe even Cronus or Horrus, but never Kurloz. Anybody but him. 

His head limped back, and his eyes were open but he was seeing white, and the only reason he wasn’t flat on the floor was because the belt was holding him up. He could feel his body moving, thrusting, sometimes he’d get a reassuring shock of pain, and occasionally he’d feel his dick smack against his underbelly. 

Did Kurloz plan to kill him? Like this? What an embarrassing way to die. Would he call the police? Would a paramedic see him like this? Would he be buried in the backyard with nobody to ever find him? Would he ever apologize to his dad, like he had been saying he would for years. He could apologize now. 

Suddenly, a gasp of air filled his lungs, and he knew he couldn't be dead because the pain rushed back into him fast. His brain was flashing with red warning lights as his body tried to convince him to move, but he could still see nothing, or move, and he didn’t want to throw up all over himself. Letting himself be fucked into, he was completely limp and probably super easy. He was always easy, Kurloz was right. Maybe he should’ve been easier. “아빠” John mumbled, flexing his hand. 

“Fuck, you getting into it motherfucker?” Kurloz asked, but still his eyes were a sheet of white, and John wondered if he’d ever get his vision back again. “Come on, call me Appa again.” 

“아빠” John sobbed again, completely disgusted with himself. He never called Kurloz that name, he never called anyone that name. He was so desperate to make Kurloz happy, to get him to finish, to maybe take a bath, that he’d probably do anything he said. 

“Do you think your  _ Appa _ is proud of you, now? Do you think he knows what his little boy is doing? Comedy, what? Did he want you to be a doctor or something?” Kurloz mocked, and John cried. His dad wanted him to be a baker. He wanted him to go back to Korea with him, open that bakery with him. When this was over, he’d unblock him, he’d send him all the money in his savings, he’d call him after 8 long years. 

“Please stop...” John whispered out, unable to speak with the frog of snot in his throat. His vision had slowly returned, at least what was gonna return, so he opted just to close his eyes. He wished Kurloz would stop talking, but John knew those groans. There was no daydreaming out of this one. This Kurloz felt like a stranger, like a cold and evil stranger, and John felt so angry with himself for not listening sooner. 

“Call me Appa again, or call me Daddy. Do anything, just be honest with yourself. You can try as hard as you want, but motherfucker, you were born for this.” Kurloz demanded, gripping and pulling on the belt again, just enough to be a threat. 

“I don’t want to” John whined, chest shaking as he sobbed. “Please, I don’t wanna leave anymore. I don’t wanna talk to Dave anymore. I wanna go to b-“ John hurked as the belt tightened on his neck, only the smallest gasps of air able to get through as he gagged, mouth wide open, tongue out, as he tried to force air into his throat. He clawed at the belt, too afraid to fight 

He tugged with his free hands, but the belt wouldn’t budge against his weak and exhausted pulling. John couldn't even wiggle his fingers underneath the damn thing. 

“I didn’t ask for that, you stupid whore. I remember you taking instructions a lot better than this, motherfucker. Do what I said, or I'll snap your windpipe.” 

John made horribly unflattering choked and gagged sounds, but the way Kurloz twitched inside him revealed that John didn’t have to worry about being hot anymore. This was all Kurloz wanted him for now, anyways. John reluctantly nodded as his head started to float again, gasping as his throat was freed. 

“...” John hadn’t stopped crying, but the sobs were now verbal, and he dug his fingers under the now loosened belt. It wouldn't stop Kurloz from just crushing them the next time he wanted to choke him, but John found closure in it. “... which one…” John asked, humiliated, sobbing as Kurloz thrusted a little too rough. 

“What did I say about playing stupid?” Kurloz spoke, quiet and deep, and horribly threatening. John sobbed, unable to say it. He wanted help, he wanted Maria’s help. He wanted anybody’s help. If Nepeta came up here, he’d have to stop, right? He wouldn’t dare risk calling her name, though. 

“... 아빠” He choked, his fingers getting forced into his neck as the belt tightened, and John desperately shouted “아빠! 아빠!!” 

“Good girl” Kurloz chuckled, low and deep and scary, bending over and putting his face in John's neck, folding the bottom like a lawn chair. The extra squeeze added a whole new layer of grip and rip as Kurloz’s thrusting continued relentlessly. It was getting ridiculous, and he almost wanted to shove his own finger in so at least he’d start bleeding, desperate for any sort of lubricant. Was he really as much of a loose whore as Kurloz wanted him to be, so much so that not even a dick like this, put in so violently, could make him bleed. John was so embarrassed. 

He knew what Kurloz was trying to do, because this was John's favorite position, being folded and fucked like a little bitch, but even his prostate must be on his side because even when John was certain Kurloz had bumped and grinded a few times, the pain and fear outweighed the pleasure 10 folds. His dick wasn’t even half hard, or even tingly, he got harder when he fucking peed. His dick couldn't possibly be any softer. 

John still couldn’t gain any happiness from that, or even confidence, because he was sure most of his softness came from the embarrassment. Being off in his headspace though almost saved him from the sex, but Kurloz wouldn’t let him off that easy. 

“You look bored, why don’t you open up” Kurloz demanded, but John sealed his lips tighter then a goddamn ziplock baggie. He trashed his hand head around, violently rejecting what he knew was about to be a loogie to the throat. John hated spit, oh my god John hated spit, and especially now when his dignity was already being worn so thin. 

He didn’t get to defend himself much harder because the belt was strung up like a kite, and though he tried to keep his mouth closed, his eyes felt like they were gonna pop out and he was forced to let his mouth fly open. The second his tongue came out, he heard Kurloz's throat hack, spitting into his mouth like a farmer to a tin can. The spit rolled down his throat, and if he could scream, he would. His skin itched and he wanted to reach into his throat and scratch it raw. 

“You look so pretty like this.” 

Letting go of the belt and John arched his back, gagging and trying to force the wad back up his throat, but it was already too far in. He was forced to swallow it down, and as he did, he took sharp breaths of complete panic, and he started to hyperventilate. 

“What? Was that too far?” Kurloz asked letting go of the belt completely and pushing John down by the shoulder, now thrusting with real intent. “What? Huh, tell me motherfucker, what’s that stupid fucking look for? You look dumb as fuck—“ 

“ _ Please _ ! Please cum, please” John cried finally, begging with his last bit of energy. He just wanted to pass out, but he knew Kurloz would only hurt him more to wake him up, and he just wanted to go to bed with him. “ _ Come _ **_on_ ** , please! Fuck, oh my god please make it sta-ah-ap!” He sobbed 

“That’s my girl, yeah, that’s  _ my  _ girl” Kurloz bit his neck, sucking on it like this was the usual passionate sex they engaged in. John seethed at being called a girl, teeth grinding as he forced himself to clench as hard as possible, trying to give Kurloz enough friction to just cum. “Pussy so tight, huh?” 

“.. Yes! Yes, my pussy is so tight—” John choked, sounding like he was at gunpoint, his voice trembling in a way he’d hope was unsexy to most, but obviously worked for whatever sick freak he’d been dating all this time. “Cum, please 아빠, please just fucking- AH—“ 

John gasped as Kurloz finally groaned, biting down hard enough to break the skin as he came inside John. It was thick and warm, and the position made it flood up and get lodged deep inside of him, and John always used to like the way it felt; but as Kurloz fucked it deeper and deeper, he only felt disgusting. 

John could only see how hard his legs were shaking when Kurloz stopped thrusting, still deep inside of him, and he covered his mouth in shock as he was finally given a moment to rest. The crying continued, harder than before, closing his eyes and trying to hide his face. He wanted a kiss, he wanted to be held, he wanted to be lifted into bed and he wanted to sleep. 

Kurloz pulled out of him with, finally, a slick ease. He was still holding John in that folded up position, and when he pulled out, John felt the gush of his cum coming after him. It squirted out in big globs like the blood crusted around his nose, and he was terrified of the feeling. Kurloz lifted his legs back over his head, dropping John to the ground. 

He stood, and John was left there. He stretched out his legs slowly, his pants still hooked around his ankles, and he stared at the blurry ceiling with no purpose, his legal blindness mixed with the tears making the world look like an ushy gushy bubble. He couldn’t stop crying, both of his hands over his mouth as he slowly curled up, rolling over on his side and trembling. 

*

A knock on the door shook him to attention, but he was so lost that as the door was unlocked and opened, he was still too afraid to look at who it was who was burdened with seeing him like this. Or more over, who John was burdened with the knowledge had seen him like this. It couldn’t have been anyone worse when he heard the sultry rolling jersey accent come from the mouth of his least favorite person in the house, 

Cronus, with that goddamn camera. John put his arms over his head, hiding with his eyes closed. He shook with sobs, and it was too loud in his head to hear the men talk.

He heard them though, when they stood over him, Kurloz pushing the toe of his boot harshly into John's chest, rolling him over with ease. John looked up helplessly at Cronus, who unnervingly, had the same heartless smirk on his face that his… that Kurloz did. Kurloz pushed his boot completely flat against John's chest, like he was nothing but a rug, and Cronus lifted his own foot and pulled John's hand away from him with his heel, suddenly grinding the delicate appendage into the ground. 

When John cried in pain, the picture was snapped of his face, and Cronus took a few more. He knelt down, grabbing his jaw, and positioned his head how he wanted it. Seeing as John's hand was still being crushed under the weight of a man that probably had 100 pounds on him, he let him have his way with his almost lifeless body. 

“Damn, Kurloz, he’s definitely the prettiest yet” Cronus compliment, but such a phrase probably couldn’t be seen as flattering. “Such a gem, I liked Jin, but man, he’s making me hard already.” 

“I think Sam was a lot cuter, John just took too long. He’s all yours once you get him there” Kurloz said offhand, looking down at John as he was nearly asleep “You ever been to Nevada, baby?” 

“...No” John mumbled

“We’ll get your bag packed” Kurloz knelt down, pushing his hair back and off his face, the big man looking down at John for an uncomfortable length of time. John looked away, his crying continued. Kurloz shook his head, grabbing the strap of the belt again and pulling it tight. “Get his glasses, he looks stupid without them.” 

Cronus did exactly as he was told, looking around for a few seconds before bending down and picking up the expensive things. He pushed them on John’s face, and unfortunately, he could see again. One of the lenses was cracked, but they were surprisingly unbroken. 

“We got one more stop to make, think you’ll make it?” 

“Did he drop him off, yet?” Cronus asked, John trying to play the pronoun game and guess what was being talked about. “You know I get antsy waiting around” 

“He should’ve, I’ll call him again.” 

“Is the bastard much trouble?” 

“Smart, but not trouble. He’s only 12” Kurloz chuckled, and Cronus rolled his eyes, sticking a tongue between his teeth. “It’ll be easy, get in, get out, hit the road.” 

“Whatever gets you off, I guess.” 

He heard Kurloz bark more orders at Cronus, who’s figure moved away from him, but he couldn’t focus anymore. John didn't need the belt, because the second he even felt a little woozy, his head rolled back and he was out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * John is attacked by Kurloz, who r//pes him, and chokes him with a belt. John then has his picture taken by Cronus, being knocked out afterwards to be taken to Kurloz’s second home in Nevada. 
> 
> I hope this wasn’t totally cringe, and i’m sorry if any typos slipped through. Such a long chapter is hard to proofread alone ,:)


	6. Monday morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk wakes up home alone, Dave gets back too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yahoo! This one came out pretty fast all things considered! Just found out i’ve been exposed to Covid-19 and might be in the house for awhile. I get tested Thursday so wish me luck! 
> 
> More on topic: CW: This chapter contains Kidnapping, creepy language towards a child, and vomiting.

Dirk caught his ankle with his foot as he ran backwards, stumbling and falling into the grass as the ball Jake just threw wizzed over his head and into the bushes. He made a little “oof!” sound as he hit the ground, laying down and letting Jake come get him. 

“Oh damn!” Jake exclaimed, running over and standing above him, Dirk pulling his shades back down “You okay?” 

“Yeah, you throw too good” Dirk shook his head, Jake smiling and going limp, falling to the ground with Dirk.

“I think you catch bad,” He teased, putting up his hand to block the sun, Dirk leaning closer to him so he was being shaded too. His shades were plexiglass, they didn’t really do their job. 

“No, you definitely throw too well.” Dirk assured him, ripping up two fistfuls of grass, sitting up, and sprinkling them on top of Jake’s face. He spit as they hit his mouth, sitting up and shaking his head, reaching up and ruffling them out of his hair. “Grass boy…” 

“Oh yeah?” Jake laughed, turning away before whipping back around, throwing a fistful of grass in Dirks face like a pokémon. Dirk shouted, trying to cover his face but it was too late. “Grass boy!” 

“Why I outta’” Dirk laughed, Jake standing quickly and running away, Dirk certain this was where he was supposed to chase him around. So he did, up on his feet, chasing the bigger boy around the yard. 

Dirk thought Jake’s house was a lot more fun, with so much room to run around and do stuff, and he had way more games to play. Jake liked Dirks house better because he was allowed to drink soda and watch Tv. 

“Come here!” Dirk laughed, unable to catch up to Jake, who was leagues faster than him. 

“Never, bastard!” Jake turned, pretending to shoot him with double handguns. When he said words like that, like ‘bastard’, you could hear the smallest traces of his grandfather's accent rubbing off on him. 

Jake made the fatal decision to stop for theatrical performance, Dirk running into him full force and knocking both boys back to the ground in a tumble, Jake even doing a little somersault. They laughed together, Jake kicking his feet. 

“Boooys” the familiar and nasally voice of Jake’s sister called to them, both of them turning to the front door “Come eat something, or die.” 

“Death sounds good,” Jake nodded, looking at Dirk who smiled. He always wanted to smile at Jake, on the off chance that Jake would compliment it. Regardless of his refusal, he stood up, putting out a hand for Dirk to be lifted off the ground. They ran inside together, passed Jade, who shook her head at them. 

“You guys are too crazy, gonna make Grandma go insane one of these days” Jade promised, shutting the front door, both boys barreling into the kitchen. They halted to a stop, Grandma watching as they ran in from the table. She was watching her VHS tapes on the old tv Grandpa had put up for her by her favorite spot at the table, the old woman drinking her coffee. “Right, Grandma?” 

“Oh, I’ve been crazy for a long time baby.” She smiled, Jake going to her side to watch the tv, the old woman reaching up a hand and pulling a blade of grass from his messy hair. “Wild savage child…” 

“Yes ma’am!” Jake laughed, mocking the shooting of the gun when the cowboys had their shootout on the screen, Grandma shooting him back. They had both seen this movie a thousand times, and Dirk had been forced to watch it his fair share, but he didn’t know it like them. He always got embarrassingly shy around his grandparents, maybe because he wasn’t used to having any. 

“Well, Dirk, no need to be so talkative huh?” Grandma looked around Jake, who turned to look at him with her. Dirk got embarrassed, but he smiled. 

“Oh uh, uh” He stuttered, looking at Jake instead so he wasn’t so weird “Sorry.” 

“Well, go on tell me, how’s school?” She asked, sipping from her mug. 

“Oh uh, I’m not in school right now… ma’am” He mumbled, stepping closer when Jake grabbed his arm. “But, I wish I was.” 

“Well,” She laughed “You could teach our Jakob here a thing or two!” Grandpa looked up, Jade reaching between the boys to put down a plate in front of her. It was a bagel, covered in an expensive spread, Grandma smiling gratefully. 

Jake walked to the island of the kitchen, climbing into the chair, followed by Dirk. He felt so stupid when he struggled to do simple things like that without getting lightheaded. Getting comfortable, he accepts a shared plate of cut up apples, Jake digging right in. 

He always made things feel so easy, so comfortable. If Dirk was ever unsure about doing anything, Jake would always do it first, without him even having to ask. He never felt bad about eating first at a party, or taking an apple slice, or getting dirty in the nice clothes his grandpa gave him, because if Jake was doing it, Dirk could do it too. Sure, Dirk was a lot better at following the rules Jake insisted on breaking, but they needed to regulate each other somehow. 

“Do you like the red or green ones?” Jake asked, mouth full of apple. He popped the whole baddie into his mouth, worrying about chewing after it was too late, and Dirk only took tiny bites. 

“Green” Dirk answered, watching Jake eat. 

“Good, I like red” Jake smiled, setting a green one off to the side, probably for one of his many reptiles to consume later. He spoiled those little bastards.

“I know.” 

As they continued to snack, the closing of the heavy hallway door was loud, Jake perking up and looking at the archway of the kitchen, obviously expecting his grandfather. He was a good guesser, as grandpa rounded the corner, eyes widening as he realized everyone was in the room. 

“Hi Grandpa.”

“Hello, dear.” 

“Grandpa!”

“Apple...” Dirk picked one off the plate, not sure what else to say, the older man smiling, but declined respectfully.

“But, thank you Dirk,” He smiled, sharing some sort of silent exchange with Jade, the young woman excusing herself. “Isn’t it about time Dirk goes home?” 

“Noooo” Jake whined, sliding down in his seat. Dirk watched him, covering his mouth to hide his laugh. “Can’t he stay for dinner?” 

“Please forgive my manners but not tonight, Jake” Grandpa fixed his hair, pulling out a second blade of grass “His father wants him home.” 

“Oh, really?” Dirk asked quietly, trying to be as likable as possible around Grandpa.

“Dirk, tell your dad he stinks” Jake swiveled the stool around, smiling at him.

“Jake, don't be rude” Grandma warned 

“Yeah, Jake, don’t be rude” Dirk teased, sticking out his tongue.

“Truthfully, I don’t mean to kick you out.” Grandpa apologized to Dirk directly, which he never knew how to respond to. “Next time, I’ll plan to have you here for dinner time, okay?”

“It’s okay, really” Dirk got quieter, looking down. 

Jake convinced Grandpa to let Dirk help him feed his many pets, even if Dirk didn’t do much more than lift the lid, or hold the tweezers when Jake was trying to pull open the wax worms for his praying mantis. He wouldn’t even touch the scorpion cage, but the boys were doing it more to kill time. 

Dirk hadn’t really checked his phone, but it was weird that dad would call Grandpa for him to come home, when it would’ve been easier to just call him so it wasn’t so awkward for Grandpa. Maybe something was wrong, and his grandpa just didn’t wanna be the one to tell him. He highly doubted that his dad would have any bad news for him though. 

Grabbing his bag off the floor, it fell open, completely unzipped, and his clothes spilled out. Weird, Dirk always made sure to zip it closed because he was concerned about getting home and a refugee snake snuck in with him, but he ignored it. 

They finally agreed to leave, climbing into Grandpas jeep and riding home listening to the oldies music on the radio. It was a nice car ride, especially since Dirk usually listened to bass boosted to hell rap music on his way home. Him and Jake talked, well, Jake talked, and Dirk listened. He leaned back against his seat, just watching the pretty boy move around and talk. Jake was so, so, so pretty. 

Dirk almost fell asleep with the sun on his face, Jake’s voice giving him asmr, unable to nap because they were already back to his apartment. Jake climbed out with him, telling Grandpa he’d be right back. 

“Tell your father hi for me.” Grandpa called before Jake shut the door, the boys racing inside. 

Dirk dug in his pocket, and then the other pocket, and then turned his bag around and shuffled through it. He groaned, looking at Jake. 

“I think I left my card at your house” Dirk frowned, looking around the floor to see if it had fallen out. 

“What? Oh damn” Jake reached in his own pockets, but obviously, he didn’t have it either. “Can you get in?” 

“Yeah” Dirk grumbled, walking over to the desk, where the new girl was typing, peeking up when she saw him. “Hey um, uh, uh” 

“He lost his key” Jake spoke over him, putting his hands on the desk. The woman seemed nervous, a smile on her face. 

“Oh well, what’s your name?” 

“Strider.” 

“Oh!” She chirped up, and Dirk was a little confused that she didn’t recognize him. Only like 10 families lived in the building, it was like the gated community of apartment complexes. 

She typed on her keyboard, looking back at the boys, the elevator doors opening. “Go on up, Dirk.” 

“Th,th thanks” He stuttered, waving and running over to the elevator with Jake. 

Jake put his hand over the sensor so the doors stayed opened, the two talking up a storm. Then, Jake finally said enough, squeezing him in a hug, and leaving. Dirk hated watching him leave, because he loved being around him. The doors closed though, and he was lifted to the apartment. 

Stepping inside he took off his shoes, throwing his bag on the ground, and yawning. “Daad” He called, doing a mini search. “Dad?”

Was he… not home yet? Why would he request Dirk come home if he wasn’t even home yet? So annoying.

He probably could’ve spent all day with Jake if not. Dirk complains, but he did enjoy being in the apartment alone. Unzipping his bag and pulling out his medicine case, he walked to the bathroom and put it back on the counter, ruffling his hair and scrunching his nose. 

He could probably use a shower, he thought, putting his medicine on pause and doing just that. Dirk took long, hot, showers, leaving the conditioner in and closing his eyes to space off. He loved how alone he felt in a shower, and, unlike how the horror genre really wants you to believe, how safe a shower felt. 

Dirk got out, drying himself off completely before darting from the bathroom to his bedroom, changing early into his pajamas, if you could even call his dad's baggy boxers and a huge t-shirt pajamas, and sunk into the pillow metropolis that was his bed. Although his bedroom was big, and had tons of stuff to do in it, he always found himself curled up in the blanket and watching youtube videos on his phone. 

He especially loved an experimenter youtuber, some crazy guy who made obstacle courses for squirrels and tried to microwave a microwave, and completely covering every inch of his body, excluding his face, with his blanket, he cuddled up and got to binging. 

Faced away from the room, and so lost in the phone, he found himself getting sleepier and sleepier. So warm, so cuddled up, his eyelids got heavy and he made one last sleepy move to pull off his shades, still curled up gently in his hand as he dozed off. 

The youtubers voice weaved in and out of his consciousness, Dirk unaware of if he was dreaming or awake and acting….

Waking up, Dirk didn’t even remember falling asleep, so surprised by how dark his room was. Blinking away the sleepy, he sat up, so gross and sweaty with that bad taste in his mouth. Stretching, he turned and paused the randomly selected video that was playing on his phone as youtube was left running, getting up on his knees and pulling back his blinds to look out the window. The sun was gone, the sky only with a hint  
of orange and red, and everything was dark inside his room. Wow, he really slept all day? And his dad didn't even try to wake him up… 

Was his dad even home? 

Dirk crawled out of bed, phone in hand, opening his bedroom door slowly and peaking out. The living room was dark, more windows made it a little brighter than his room, but the shoes and his bag at the door had gone completely untouched, unseen, and undisturbed. His father’s expensive shoes were not placed next to his own, and looking down the hallway, his bedroom door was still wide open.

Dirk ducked back into his room, flipping on a light, and finally calling his dad. He probably should’ve a long time ago. It was nearly 8:30, there was no way this was normal. Even more, he was a little grumpy that his dad insisted he come home, and he didn't even do it himself. Maybe he should call Jake too. 

The phone rang, and finally his dad picked up. 

“Hello?”

“Dad, where are you?” Dirk cut right to the chase, sitting back comfortably on his bed, wrapping the blanket around him like a donut. 

“Ah- uh, what? What do you mean?” His dad answered, Dirk kinda distracted by all the talking in the background. Was he at a party or something? 

“Um, like, why aren’t you home?” Dirk repeated, as if it was obvious and stupid for Dave to even ask. 

“I’m not home cause—what? I’m out of town didn't Jake’s grandfather tell you that?” Dave stumbled, the talking around getting quieter. 

“No, he didn’t say anything about that” Dirk scoffed “Well if you were out of town why does it even matter if i’m at Jake’s? That’s stupid why did you want me to come home? I took a nap, it’s super dark outside—“

“Wait, your home?” Dave cut him off, the background noise becoming dead silent. 

“I— yeah?” Dirk felt uncomfortable 

“Are you kidding?” 

“Kidding? What do you mean?” Dirk uncrossed his legs and put his feet flat on the floor. “What’s wrong?” 

“I told his grandpa that you needed to stay at his house for the night, I’m not gonna be home” Dave sounded mad “What the fuck, you are home right now?”

“Ye, yeah? are you mad at me-“ 

“No! not mad at you, i’m mad, not at you. I’m sorry” Dave groaned, someone talking to him on the other end, but Dirk couldn’t hear. He continued to talk to them, Dirk picking up a ‘why the fuck’ and ‘really?’ before Dave redirected his attention back to Dirk “Okay, baby, i’m gonna come home. It’s gonna be like an hour to two but I’ll be there.” 

“Alright” He was quiet, a scared feeling in his stomach. 

“Alright, okay, I’ll see you soon baby. I love you”

“I love you too” Dirk was soothed, hanging up the phone unhappily. Something about all of this felt wrong, and he needed to call Jake. 

Sliding away from the call screen, he opened his messenger app, scrolling till he found Jake. It didn’t take very long because he didn’t talk to anyone. He never went through his contacts, because Jake has had so many phones that he had a bunch of numbers for him, and this way he doesn’t have to try and remember which one is the most current. 

Strangely, though, it only rang once before sending him straight to voicemail. Dirk blinked, looking at the screen with an annoyed face. Calling again, the same thing repeated, and Dirk got anxious again. 

That’s weird? Did Jake run out of data? Did his wifi go down, did his phone stop working? Too nervous to call grandpa himself, he opted to just wait until Jake called him back or his dad got home, painfully aware of the silence of the penthouse when he put down his phone. 

He stood up quietly, creaking open his door and looking back into the dark living room. Why did the darkness seem 10 times more dark now, and 3 times as scary? Dirk let his door slowly sway open, staring into the void until he was sure he saw something, running full speed into the bathroom. 

Slamming the door shut he caught his breath, huffing out his nose and opening his phone. Still nothing from Jake, granted it had been only a minute, but Jake didn’t usually keep him waiting at all. Dirk needed to chill out, but something felt so wrong it hurt. 

Why would grandpa lie about his dad calling if his dad wasn’t even in town? That’s so strange. Adults, especially the ones he trusted, weren’t supposed to lie to him. Maybe it wasn’t a lie, though, maybe it was a really big misunderstanding. 

“Whatever” Dirk grumbled, pulling youtube back up and scrolling for a new video. An analysis of the Main 6 and their character flaws, a guilty pleasure of his he wasn’t so guilty about finding pleasure in.

Popping open his medicine case, he picked up the two pills and tossed them in his mouth, leaning down and drinking straight from the faucet. Swallowing, he wiped his mouth on the hand towel hanging from the wall. Dirk pushed the cabinet closed, looking at himself in the mirror, pushing up his lip to look at his teeth. He listened as the narrator described the subtext in Rainbow Dash’s color scheme when the ding of the elevator made him jump. 

Pausing the video, he looked at the bathroom door. Was… was that in his apartment? Sometimes, when the house was quiet like this, you could hear the elevator ding in the apartment under them, but Dirk would bet money that the elevator just opened on his floor. He walked over to the door, pushing his head against it and listening as closely as possible. 

The sound of boots against the hardwood floor, at least 3 pairs of feet, and the slow closing of the elevator doors as it was called back to the ground floor. 

What the fuck, Dirk thought to himself, holding so still he felt like a statue. The floorboard creaked once, like the shifting of someone’s weight, but suddenly the apartment was quiet again. He looked back at his phone, contemplating, before slowly opening the bathroom door. 

His father was a horror movie director, he probably should know better then to investigate the scary shit he was hearing. He wondered, though, maybe his dad and his friends were pulling a prank on him? Maybe he made up that whole “out of town” bit so him and his friends could give him a good scare. 

Unlikely, sure, but what was more unlikely was random people getting upstairs without a key. Only his, his dads, and Vriska's name belonged to the apartment. Nobody else could get up without being paged in. 

The light flooded into the living room in a cone, and as Dirk looked out, nothing seemed to be out of place. His bag still laid against the wall, and his shoes were still skewed, waiting to be picked up by Dave. 

Pushing the door open all the way, Dirk stepped into the apartment, trying to look into the darkness. His shades weren’t helping, but he didn’t waste time reaching up to fix them. He left the comforts of his bathroom to venture out, putting a hand on the doorframe. 

“Dad?” he called into the darkness, trying to see anyone, anything, but he could only see the lights from the microwave, the dishwasher, looking around. “Dad.”

He let his feet drag, scanning the room completely, shaking his head and walking to the kitchen for the light switch. “Haha, very very funny” He mumbled, feeling around the wall for the switch when the ground shifted again, the obvious drag of a rubber shoe sole against the floor making Dirk whip around. His hand was frozen over the switch, slowly lowering in fear. 

“Stop, stop it’s not funny” Dirk called into the darkness, met by complete silence. His breathing was heavy and he scrunched up his face, whining “Stop!” 

He shouted when his phone went off, jumping and throwing up his arms. Dirk sighed, rubbing his face and walking back to the bathroom, only looking away from the apartment when he drew his attention to his phone sliding across the sink as it vibrated into the bowl. 

Dirk quickly grabbed it, looking down at the caller ID. It was… his dad? His stomach sank, putting his thumb on the green circle to slide and answer—

He didn’t have much time to react when an arm hooked around his neck, a wet cloth pressed so hard into his face that he wouldn’t even thrash his head away. The hand holding the cloth pinched his nose shut with the towel, Dirk unable to move his head but kicked his legs wildly. His hands shot up to his face, digging his nails into the hand of his aggressor, his body being carried out of the bathroom, his phone vibrating against the floor. 

Dirk screamed from under the cloth, but on the inhale he felt the burn of a harsh chemical rush into his throat and into his nasal, and something told him to hold his breath. All too late, however, because he felt incredibly lightheaded and dazed, everything moving in sets of threes, like when you cross your eyes. 

Dirk’s feet were not on the ground anymore, making it extremely hard to struggle. He reached his hands over his head, finding the face of the person holding onto him, scratching and clawing and digging until he found hair, long hair, and he gripped and pulled. 

Dirk was dropped rather quickly, his body hitting the floor in a tumble as he tried to scatter to his feet. His vision was blurred, unable to find his balance, and his shades flew off, skidding across the floor. 

He didn’t make it very far before he was tripped, falling on his back, hard, the air escaping his lungs. A heavy foot was pressed into his shoulder and he groaned. His head fell to one side, watching as another set of feet stepped next to his head, crushing his shades under the toe of his boot with little to no restraint. 

He cringed, trying to sit up, but was quickly punished as the weight of the much bigger person looming over him was applied to his shoulder. 

Dirk’s eyes focused in intervals as whatever chemical was trying to do its job took over his brain, eyes like the shutter on a camera, focusing on the person over him. It didn’t take him a second to recognize the man he had just met, it was his dad's friend, but he… he couldn’t remember his name. John’s boyfriend, the rich guy with a pool, he Just met him—

Kurloz! Kurloz...

Dirk couldn't seem to catch his breath, heaving and squirming as he tried to wiggle free. He arched his back with very little energy. 

He looked at the other man, a shorter guy with a camera, which was pointing in his face. Suddenly, it went off, and the flash made him flinch and scrunch up his face. That made Kurloz laugh, the rumble rattling Dirk’s sternum. He sucked in a haggered breath through his teeth, groaning as his head spun around, trying to focus as he slowly lost his concentration. 

“He takes medicine” A third voice spoke up from over his head, Dirk tensing up in surprise. This earned him a second picture and another laugh. 

“Jumpy little thing, huh?” Kurloz teased, but Dirk didn’t find it very lighthearted “What for?”

The man overhead, which Dirk craned his neck to look at, was tall and stern with an incredibly deep voice. He had long hair pushed back behind his ears, and his medicine case looked tiny gripped in his hands. 

“Um, I don’t know?” The tall man said as if it was a stupid question, Kurloz glaring and redirecting his gaze to Dirk, making him feel sick. 

“Why do you take the medicine?” Kurloz asked him directly, almost sounding… kind. Dirk just stared at him big eyed, his face going in and out of focus. 

“He’s not going to answer you.” The cameraman shook his head, “Look how scared he is.” 

“Well, he’s going to answer me if he wants us to take it with us.” Kurloz said, and although he wasn’t looking at Dirk as he said it, he understood the veiled threat. “Dirk,” a chill curled up his spine “What do you take the medicine for?” 

“I, I, I’m,” Dirk stumbled, a smirk pulling at Kurloz’s lips, scared to speak because every time he opened his mouth bile crept up his throat as fear overwhelmed him, and the last thing he wanted to do right now was vomit. “I have h,h, hemophilia, i’m anemic,”

“Very good to know,” Kurloz said, looking up as his phone vibrated against the floor again. The big man trailed back into the bathroom, crouching down and picking up his phone. Even that looked small in his big hands, and he faced it towards the group. 

“It’s the kids dad” He stood up, waving the phone around. Dirk sobbed, reaching out towards him, asking for the phone, but the cameraman gently pushed his arm into the ground with the heel of his boot. 

Kurloz shook his head, moving his foot from Dirk’s chest and ripping him up off the ground. He gripped his t-shirt in his fist, grabbing in the cameraman’s direction until he was handed the cloth again, clasping it over Dirk’s mouth, this time with far less struggling. Dirk was already so dazed and confused, his body went slack in no time, but he couldn’t seem to pass out. 

“Break that shit, he won’t need it.” 

Dirk’s eyes fought to stay open, his back pressed into Kurloz’s chest, watching as his phone was smashed 10 fold into the corner on the sink until it was a shattered and silent mess, being dropped.

The tall man then ground it into the floor with his foot, which Dirk would substitute as ‘overkill’, because he was sure it was broken after the first two smashings. 

There wasn’t much else he could do to fight his body after that, his eyes rolling back and too heavy to keep  
open, his knees buckling as his entire weight demanded to be supported by Kurloz. The t-shirt choked him, the conversation around him turning into a Charlie Brown nightmare, Dirk only able to breathe and think as he was unable to move. 

Then, his feet were on the ground. 

An arm was around his shoulder, and he knew he was walking, but he didn’t remember when he started or where he was walking to. It sounded like he was underwater, the sounds of the city muffled in his ears, stumbling again and again. Someone had a hold on the back of his shirt, keeping him upright. 

His thighs hit the edge of something cold, he could smell gasoline, and hear the rumble of an engine. Dirk ran into it again, and without warning, he was lifted off the ground once more. 

Dirk felt around for something solid, feeling a step, and stumbled into the leather seats of a car. His eyes rolled open, looking down at his hands, his body being shoved as he fell on his face. Dirk was on his stomach, grumbling and struggling weakly as his arms were pulled roughly behind his back, tied together tightly with something he couldn’t identify. 

His face smacked back into the seat when his legs were pulled too, someone’s hands touching the back and inner parts of his thighs, making him tremble as his legs were secured together. Dirk was pushed into the next seat over, someone sitting besides him and slamming the car door. 

Dirk tensed as a hand was placed firmly on his shoulder, holding his breath. His tears still fell, but he wasn’t shaking anymore. 

“You’ll be okay, stop crying” The deep voice confused him, because he was still so afraid but he wanted to feel comfort, he wanted to listen “We have a long drive, Dirk, you have to stop crying.” 

Dirk listened, sniffing and actively trying to control his breathing, still too inebriated to roll over or move from his uncomfortable position. The hand didn’t leave him, and Dirk didn’t know if he liked it or hated it, hyper focusing on the feeling of the weight on his shoulder. 

He didn’t unfocus until it left him, and when he opened his eyes, he was happy he could see again. His vision was back, but his strength was still dicey, flinching when the door was slammed shut again. He took the brave chance to lift his head, looking at the front seat. 

Dirk was completely unnerved to find himself alone in the car, the front seat empty, as well as the seat next to him, where someone once sat comforting him. 

Sitting up slowly, he looked out the window. The fluorescent and multi colored lighting of a gas station sign looking back at him. Gas pumps, a building, a parking lot— yup, this was a gas station alright. When he looked around, towards the door opposite of him, he was facing the back of one of the men.

He was leaning up against the door, staring at the gas pump as it filled the car. The doors were locked, all of them, and he found it a complete waste of energy to try and get out anyways. The parking lot was empty, and the only cars were those whipping past as nothing but lights on the interstate next to them. Nobody would see him, and he couldn’t run anymore.

Dirk perked up at the noises he was hearing. It was new, the first time he had heard it since the car ride began. The sounds of shuffling and groaning, the muffled and quiet sounds coming from besides him. Well, besides him and behind the seat. 

He definitely wasn’t alone in the car.

Struggling to sit up on his knees, he slowly pulled himself up to peek over, stomach dropping when his eyes focused on the dark trunk. 

Laying in a curl was a man, a grown man, with his hands bound together with zip ties . He was blindfolded with a generous amount of duct tape wrapped around his head, covering his mouth. It was done so tightly that you could see whatever cloth they had stuffed his mouth with was sticking out from under the tape. Not only were his wrists tied, so were his ankles, and his knees too. Whoever this was, they clearly didn’t want him to get undone. 

He was waking up though, trying to lift his head before falling limp against the bed of the trunk again. His hair was black, dark black, and Dirk felt bad that they would have to rip the tape off of it. That probably wasn’t gonna feel good.

The guy was half naked, Dirk not being able to say much more of himself, but at least he had a shirt on. The bound up man was skinny, and his breathing was sporadic, stomach rising and falling like a heartbeat. Dirk wanted to reach out and touch him, but he didn’t want to make himself too obvious, and he especially didn't want to startle the guy. 

Dirk threw himself back against the seat when the passenger side door opened, the cameraman climbing back in, one leg out the door. He was flipping through his camera, deleting and starring photos as he went through them. It was a nice, expensive, camera. 

The cameraman looked up at Dirk, frowning and wavering over a picture. Dirk couldn’t see the screen well enough to tell what it was. He closed out the album, going back to the photo taking screen, raising the camera and snapping another picture of him. 

Dirk was uncomfortable, but like a toddler, he felt the urge to smile every time a camera was pointed at him. 

The door next to him opened, Dirk pushing himself between the seat and the door like a frightened animal at the vet, looking at the big man he recognized from before. This was the guy who smashed his phone, the man who rubbed his shoulder with the long beautiful hair. He smiled softly at Dirk, but the tween couldn’t bring himself to smile back. 

“You’re already awake, huh?” He asked, his voice rolling deep in his throat “You better try and sleep, Dirk. We still have six hours.”

“S—“ Dirk almost spoke, stilled with fear again. The man didn’t seem to need to hear him, nodding. 

“Yeah, six hours. It’s a long drive” He confirmed, his kind voice disarming. Why were these men being so nice to him when they, clearly, weren’t very nice people at all. Why wasn’t he hog tied with a sock in his mouth like his buddy in the back? 

The driver's side door opened finally, Kurloz climbing in and shutting the door. He started the car, the cameraman leaning over to show him some photos. He just nodded, backing out silently. Dirk sank into the seat, back into the lying position, tight in a ball with eyes wide open, staring between all three men. They were all completely disinterested with him now, looking out the windows or looking through pictures. 

Nobody spoke for a while, not until the man with the deep voice looked behind him suddenly, putting an arm on the seat to look over it. He shook his head, leaning forward and speaking between the men upfront. 

“John’s awake.”

John? Like, his dad’s John?

Those two words were followed almost instantly with lots of shuffling around, a struggled whine, followed by choked and muffled screaming. Obviously John was very awake, and very scared. Dirk didn’t dare sit up, but he did prop himself up, hunched away trying to watch without bringing attention to himself. 

Kurloz swore, flicking on his turn signal and hastily pulling to the side of the road. The man next to him leaned over the seat, grabbing John by his hair and pulling him into the sitting position, Dirk wanted to hide his face but he was too frozen to look away. John whipped his head around, screaming, spit escaping from his bottom lip and down his chin, the big man struggling to keep him still. 

The men in the front seat rounded the car, pulling open the trunk, Kurloz putting up a knee and grabbing John by the zip tie around his ankles. The big man let go, John being whipped around and knocked on his back, squirming and fighting as he was pulled towards Kurloz angrily. John was screaming alright, so loud that it was hard to believe his mouth was stuffed, only being stopped as a hand gripped around his throat. 

“Don’t be afraid, come here” the big man beckoned, the kindness still lingering as Dirk was pulled to his side, his shirt operating like the scruff on a baby animal. He lifted him so he was sitting up straight, pushing his chest into the seat so he could watch more carefully, his eyes wide open. 

John choked, hands shooting up and grabbing Kurloz, only his wrists held together. Seemed like a pretty big oversight on the kidnappers part, because John was still fully able to use his fingers. Kurloz struggled as John dug his nails into his wrist, dragging down with such force it was actually breaking the skin. 

It was when John pulled up his legs, kicking Kurloz hard in the center of his stomach, his body scooting backwards, before the cameraman stepped on. He grabbed John’s legs, which were kicking wildly, pulling him until his body was halfway out of the car.

“Cronus-“ the big man called, as if trying to restrain him from a distance, but it wasn’t working. Cronus, huh, that must be the cameraman. 

Grabbing a fistful of the hair on the side of his head, Cronus held John still as he repeatedly kneed him in the face, John’s head slamming into the SUV each time. It only took two or three for John to go limp again. Cronus didn’t stop on his own, Kurloz having to grab his arms to stop him, pulling John away and putting him back into the car. 

John’s body looked lifeless as it rolled into the car, head and neck twisted in an awkward way. Dirk didn’t even know you could lay face down while laying on your back, but John might just be flexible. 

“Fuck, Cronus” Kurloz shook his head “Play that rough and you won’t have anything to do tomorrow.” 

The door was slammed shut, the men coming back around and starting the car up again. The big man let go of Dirk, the little boy scurrying back into his spot in the corner. The big man leaned forward, putting his hands on the seats in front of them.

“Would it kill either of you to be a little more careful? Anybody could’ve seen that” He scolded, Kurloz pulled onto the road, his stick making a satisfying sound as it shifted gears. 

“Nobody saw anything, don’t be so anxious” Cronus shook his head, back to his camera.

“Horrus, you’ve done this successfully… how many times? and you haven’t even built a little confidence?” Kurloz scoffed, focusing mostly on the road. 

Horrus… Dirk had never heard a name like that. 

“I do it carefully, that’s why none of us get caught. What you did could have ruined everything for us” Horrus insisted “And, for the record, this shit going smoothly three times is a coincidence, not a practice.” 

“Chill out, what were we supposed to do? Let him scream the entire way there and make Dirk uncomfortable?” Cronus didn’t look up, but he was smirking snidely. “He’s so well behaved, we don’t need John being a bad influence.” 

“You are the one making him uncomfortable by talking about him so much—“ Horrus said, Dirk seconds that. 

“Aww, did I make you mad? Talking about your special little boy?” Cronus interrupted, shoving his camera in Horrus’ face and snapping an incredible amount of pictures, making the car look like a rave. 

Horrus shoved the camera away, pushing it out of his hands completely, the strap around Cronus’ neck keeping it from flying against the dashboard. 

“He is not for me” Horrus yelled, Cronus whipping around after catching the camera in the air, leaning into the backseat and punching at him. Horrus hit him back like two brothers arguing on a family vacation. Dirk, on the other hand, felt very weird being talked about like he belonged to any of the men in the car. 

“Stop it!” Kurloz finally spoke up, shoving Cronus back in his seat, who was obviously over excited. Horrus slouched back in his seat, seething. “My fucking god—“

“Well maybe Horrus shouldn’t act like he’s on the moral high ground when he specializes in kidnapping children!” Cronus’ mumble turned into a shout as he whipped around in his seat again. “Huh? how would Equius feel about tha—“ 

Horrus lunged forward, grabbing Cronus by the neck and spilling into the front seat, choking the smaller man out. Cronus turned purple instantly, Kurloz screaming for the men to cut it out, swerving into the next lane to knock them off each other. It worked, Horrus letting go and falling into the backseat, Cronus holding his throat and gasping for air. 

Dirk looked between them, his breathing picking up, trying to sink further into the corner he was packed in. What an unstable group… what an unstable group… 

Dirk took in everything, committing it to memory.

The car went silent, no music or talking anymore. Dirk wanted to sleep, because he was tired, but when he even closed his eyes for a second his fear overwhelmed him. 

Then they drove, and drove, and drove. Dirk wasn’t looking at the street exactly, more focused on the inside of the car, but he could see the blurry pavement in his peripheral. Glancing up at the green street sign, the exit was labeled with a city name he was completely unfamiliar with. That, and the “Nevada” that followed it. 

… Nevada? They, they weren’t in California anymore? 

Dirk sunk into the seat, watching as the sign passed over the car, merging with the other people taking the same exit. His breathing became quick, the boy trying to pull his wrists apart. 

His wiggling got Horrus’ attention fast, the man sitting up slightly and watching him. Dirk didn’t have time to care, glancing over at him while he continued to try and struggle free, getting more aggressive. 

“Are you okay?” Horrus asked him, as if he genuinely cared, reaching out to touch him. 

The second his hand touched Dirk, he flinched away, suddenly completely overrun by fear. Where was he going, how long would he be there, where was his dad, would his dad find him, what were these men going to do with him, what were they going to do with John? His mind went white with questions. 

Dirk threw himself into the door, thrashing and trying to pull his arms away, struggling to breathe. 

Horrus quickly grabbed him but Dirk wiggled like an oiled pig, crying and shouting, trying most of all to get away from Horrus. He kicked his legs, which were still stuck together, crying uncontrollably. 

Dirk could barely breathe, planting his feet on the floor of the car, arching his back and pushing up his butt, trying to pull his arms underneath and in front of him. 

“Horrus-“ Cronus caught on, turning his body and leaning into the backseat, grabbing Dirk’s thigh. 

Horrus shut it down quickly, grabbing Dirk in one easy drag, pulling Dirk halfway on top of him. This solved nothing, Dirk only fighting harder and finally, screaming. Dirk was not a screamer, Dirk was barely a shouter, but it was the only thing his body understood to do in this situation. 

“Cronus, help him” Kurloz ordered, the man in the passenger seat fumbling, pulling open the glovebox. He pulled out a plastic bottle, pouring an unnecessary amount onto a cloth, spilling it over his legs and hand. 

He leaned over the armrest, Horrus taking the cloth and forcing Dirk to face forward. Dirk sobbed, wiggling and trying to slide to the ground, but Horrus had a firm grip on his neck. It was the only non-tender touch Dirk had received from the man since meeting him. 

Dirk was once again smothered with chloroform, unable to hold his breath as he dry heaved the chemical straight into his body. He didn’t stop fighting until his feet slowly slid against the floor, his shoulders rolling back, his head limping forward. It was a grueling 5 minutes, his breathing shallow, but this time Horrus didn’t give up on him. Every few seconds, he could manage a thrash, or a shake of his head, 

He sucked in one final huff, going unconscious. 

Dave, on the other hand, was wide awake. 

He had never felt so anxious in his life, hugging his stomach and leaning forward in the front seat next to Vriska. Rose and Kanaya had opted for the backseat so Dave could use the cute car trash can as a vomit bag. He pressed his face into his knees, mumbling something like a prayer to the floor. 

First, John failed to show up. Then, while they were trying to get a hold of him and think of what to do next, his trust had been completely betrayed and his son was probably in an incredible amount of danger. 

Vriska was going well over the speed limit, weaving around people, swearing under her breath. She constantly repositioned her hands, wiping them on her jeans periodically. 

The others weren’t far behind, leaving their things at Kankris. “They’d be back”, Rose had said before they left, Kankri not taking his eyes off Dave. 

“Dave, darling, please try to call him again,” Kanaya suggested, pulling his phone from the cup holder and pushing it towards him. The man contemplated it.

“I don’t think he can handle not getting an answer again” Vriska chose for him, pushing the phone away as she tried to stay on the road. “Dirk will call back.” 

Dave whined at the comment, rubbing his face and shaking his leg, trying to chill the panic attack pushing against his throat. Was that a panic attack, or was that-

He leaned forward, pulling up the trash can, throwing up hard into it. It burned, Dave letting out a little sob afterwards. Kanaya sat back in her seat, holding Rose's hand as she looked out the window. He couldn’t handle how long this drive was taking, groaning and pushing up his shades. 

“It’s okay, Dave” Vriska comforted “I promise it’s okay. Dirk is fine, think reasonably” 

“Reasonably? I don’t think there’s a single thing reasonable about this situation!” Dave shouted, his hostility not properly directed. Vriska didn’t seem to care, reaching over and holding his thigh like they were high school sweethearts in a small town. “Why would Jake’s grandfather lie to me, why would he bring him home. If Kurloz is just as scary and manipulative as everyone is telling me he is then what is stopping Grandpa from being one of the many people Kurloz has under his thumb—“ 

“Dave, come one” Vriska said, letting a hurt whine reveal itself “Please, think rationally.” 

She wasn’t really asking him to be realistic, she was asking him to be optimistic. Unfortunately, right now, how she felt was not his problem.

Obviously, the worst was on their minds. Dave cursed his creative mind, the one you need to be a horror director, but it was numbing when the subject was your son. He didn’t want to think about all the horrible possibilities in his head coming true. He continued to picture himself running into the apartment, Dirk fast asleep in his bed, or on the couch, and holding on to him so tight and never letting go again. 

Pulling up to the apartment, the towering building had never seemed so intimidating. Did he really live that high off the ground? Thanks to the walls of windows in his penthouse, you could see that not a single light was on. He must be asleep, he’s got to be asleep. 

Dave nearly spilled out of the car as they pulled into the roundabout, parking in the drop off area like you strictly weren’t meant to. His foot left the car before the car stopped, running through the front door and into the lobby, pulling down his shades and running sweaty hands through his hair. 

Vriska left the car, the three women after him in seconds, leaving his door open. 

“Mr. Strider—“ The receptionist called, face falling as he ran past in a hurry, confused. 

He smacked his keycard against the reader until it chimed. It was calling down the elevator, Dave swearing under his breath. He could go into cardiac arrest from all the stress. 

Rose approached the woman, a serious look on her face. “Did anyone come up here? Did Dirk leave with anyone, did you see him leave?” The works. All of these were met with stuttering denials, the woman picking up her phone and hovering over the buttons, asking if the police needed to be called. 

“You didn’t see him come down? Or leave with anyone” Kanaya asked again, the receptionist violently shaking her head ‘No.’

“He hasn’t come down, nobody has come down besides the Pitts but of course they didn’t have Dirk with them,“ She explained “The pager hasn’t even been active since yesterday—” 

Dave nearly jumped into the elevator as the doors opened. Vriska looked between everyone before running after Dave to check on Dirk. 

“Should, should I call the police? Is something wrong?” The receptionist asked again, nervous. 

“Yes, yes” Vriska called, the elevator closing. She turned to Dave, who was a sunken mess, pressed right up against the doors as he tapped his foot, shaking out his hands. He popped each knuckle, looking between the door and the number counter as they rose to the floor.

It was a quiet and uncomfortable ride, not a single sound besides Dave’s unsteady breathing, trying to catch it after all that running around. The elevator dinged, lighting up, coming to a stop. 

The doors creeped open, and they rushed inside. 

“Dirk! baby,” Dave stepped through the kitchen, flipping on the light, looking around. Vriska belined for his bedroom, Dave following her when his foot stomped over something crunchy. 

Vriska had missed it in her long strides, already in Dirk’s room with the light on, checking his bed for him. Dave looked down, stepping back and looking at what he could possibly assume was once a cellphone. An IPhone, a red IPhone. Dave leaned down and picked up the shattered mess, turning it over. 

Tucked into the back of the remnants of the clear phone case was a Friendship is Magic sticker, a concert ticket stub, and a fan card of Namjoon from BTS. This was his son's phone. 

That explained all the missed calls. 

It also did nothing but stir up his guts, Dave clutching the phone in his hand just in time for Vriska to run from Dirk’s room into Dave’s. He wasn’t in his room? He wasn’t in his room. 

Dave walked into Dirks room himself, looking around for any sort of indication that he was here, any sort of sign of something bad happening. His tv was off, an old can of Coke on his dresser. His bed had been disheveled by Vriska, his closet doors opened, his clothing piles disrupted. His phone charger dangled off the dresser, waiting to be used, his half finished robot and firework projects splayed everywhere. 

He could imagine Dirk looking up at him, holding a screwdriver in one hand, and a dismantled remote control car in the other, confused as to why he was being bothered by his dad again. It was like a photograph, the room still in time, waiting for Dirk to come back and resume his life. 

Dave was knocked out of his trance, almost forgetting why he was here, by the sounds of crashing, quick on his feet as he turned down the hall and into his own bedroom, finding Vriska. 

Vriska pulled apart the bed, groaning and pushing back her hair, ripping open his closet and pulling back the curtains on his window. With the blanket, which was now on the floor, she had knocked all of the bottles and products of Dave’s dresser. 

Backing out into the hallway, Dave pushed open the bathroom door, pulling open the bathroom curtain, to see the tub still wet.

He was just in here.

Dave looked towards the sink, and at the wide open bathroom cabinet, scanning for something he immediately knew was missing. Dirk’s medicine case, it was gone. Vriska came up behind him as Dave dug through the cabinet looking for it. 

“What are you doing?“

“It’s. His medicine, it’s gone.” Dave choked, his fists clenching around the bottle in his hand, dropping it into the sink. Vriska put a hand on his shoulder. 

“His medicine? What does that—”

“Oh my god, he’s gone” Dave’s voice rose in volume, his panic finally setting in “He’s gone, Vriska, oh fuck, oh fuck, he’s not here—“

“Dave-

“Ah—oh my god” Wheeze “Oh my god” Wheeze. Dave backed out of the bathroom, into the living room, still clutching the broken phone in his hands. “He’s not here” Wheeze “He’s fucking, gone, he’s gone.” 

Dave sobbed, a horrible choked noise in his throat, looking over the couch as if he was still searching for him. Vriska grabbed his shoulders, trying to help him, but Dave didn’t even know she was there. 

“Dirk, oh my god” He shook, covering his mouth to influence his vomit to stay down “Where is he— ah, where is he?” 

Vriska fumbled with her phone, trying to keep Dave off the floor, calling Kanaya who answered instantly. She must have been waiting for the call. 

“Call the police. Call the police, call anyone. If you haven’t already, call them” She demanded, Kanaya started to ask questions before Vriska had to fall to help Dave who was throwing up between his knees. 

“What’s happening?! Is Dave—“

“He’s not here! Dirk isn’t here!” 

Kanaya hangs up the phone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for making it to the end! Any comments and feedback is super encouraged and I love to see how you are feeling about the fic so far! 
> 
> Any questions will always be answered!


End file.
